The Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission (TANSIM) is working on creating a startup database, strengthening the investor ecosystem, forming a mentor network and a revised startup policy. “There is a perception that Tamil Nadu is lagging behind when compared to other states when it comes to the startup ecosystem. And this is based on startup rankings that's released by various associations and research firms. But we are actually doing well and the rankings are low because we don't have proper data to show various metrics,” TANSIM CEO Sivarajah Ramanathan said.
“So we are now working on collating data to show where exactly we stand,” he added. Some of the key aspects that TANSIM is looking at is data on how many startups are there in each district, how many firms have got funded, how many incubation cells are active and what kind of work are they doing among others. “These are the things we want to study and document,” Mr. Ramanathan said.
TANSIM is also setting up hubs for undertaking startup activities in tier 2 and tier 3 towns. In the recently-concluded State Budget for 2022-23, Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan said, “The Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission (TANSIM) will set up Regional Startup Hubs in Erode, Madurai and Tirunelveli to ensure development of startup eco-system in all regions across Tamil Nadu.”
“We will have meeting halls and workstations, something like a co-working space where startup enthusiasts can come,” TANSIM CEO said. TANSIM will form a local governing body, involve local stakeholders in those regions, collate with investor networks and colleges in these regions. “Why we are doing this is.... in the next 3 to 4 years, we aim to create 10,000 new startups in the State,” Mr. Ramanathan said.
Another focus area for TANSIM is to strengthen the investor ecosystem. “Many startups are moving out of Chennai and Tamil Nadu because of lack of funding ecosystem. We will come out with an aggregator platform (to bring in funds) . We will talk to VC funds/investors from other parts of India and across the globe and engage with them to invest in firms here,” Mr. Ramanathan said.
During the Budget, the Finance Minister also announced that a corpus of ₹30 crore will be provided to TANSIM to support startups by Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs. In the coming days TANSIM will chalk out plans and see how this programme can be doled out across the State.
