Goa start-up policy lacks teeth, say investors

Staff Reporter

Panaji

Goa’s Startup Policy, the vision document to make the state a geographical and human resource base for start-ups and for the best entrepreneurial minds, came under criticism from TiE India Angels and RAIN (Rajasthan Angels) on Wednesday with Mahavir Pratap Sharma, the chairman and co-founder of the angels network, pointing out that the policy “lacks teeth” and is, “too cumbersome to attract start-up units.”

Sharma, who spoke at the launch of Goa Angel Network event, pointed out that though the state has a notified start-up policy, nobody knows about it.

“Angel investors in India do not know of the existence of Goa’s start-up policy. The IT policy portal of the state does not open and that is the first step towards being aware of a policy,” he said.

Sharma pointed out that the state’s start-up policy needs to be easy to use so as to reach out to a larger community of investors.

“Attracting start-ups is not about providing subsidy but about bringing together a lot of investors from across India and globally who are willing to look at the start-ups,” he said.

Sharma explained that the funding crunch for start-ups is mostly at the prototype stage.

“Mentoring and funds at the early stage are critical and support in this stage could be through grants. Beyond this, start-ups need to be connected to investors,” he said.

Sharma added that Goa can attract start-ups by providing suitable infrastructure and speedy approvals. He said that service sector technology start-ups need to be encouraged as they have a bright future.

“Goa has great potential to be the top choice of all start-ups. The state is presently being underutilised and can attract lot more start-up entrepreneurs than it presently has,” said Sharma.

Aninya-Diversity in Innovation, an event for women entrepreneurs, was organised by the Goa Angel Network together with the GCCI.

State director of industries Swetika Sachan was the chief guest for the function while Sharma was the guest of honour. The event was led by Dr. Madhurita Gupta, founder, Goa Angels Network. Investors created a full-day programme for women-led start-ups, innovators and spoke on topics such as fund raising, mentoring, etc.

The Goa Startup Policy 2021 was notified in November 2022 and is presently under implementation.