The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Thiru M.K. Stalin has announced funding for startups, and it will be provided via the Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission which is popularly known as ‘Startup TN’. It comes under the Tamil Nadu SC/ST Fund. Moreover, to guide these companies on the right path, the Tamil Nadu government has become a shareholder itself. 

It must be noted that the investment is in the form of Compulsorily Convertible Debentures (CCD) which is aimed at bringing out inspirational stories that would motivate others to create more startups. This, as a result, would lead society towards inclusive mass entrepreneurship.

To know more about the Tamil Nadu SC/ST Startup Fund, then it is Rs. 50 crore fund which was announced in the Budget of 2023-24. Going further, shortlisting of applications was carried out by Startup TN with the support of experts and diligence, interviewing, and mentoring of the startup founders, and after all the formalities were completed, the Project Sanction Committee approved funding for the selected startups. 

Which startups received the funding from the Tamil Nadu government?

Eight startups received funding orders for equity investment under the Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission. These are as follows:

1. Guhan Industrial and Manufacturing Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
2. Shortfundly
3. India Speak Research Lab Pvt. Ltd.
4. Sprint6 Specialized Services Pvt. Pvt.
5. TAMS Tribal Green Fuel Pvt. Ltd.
6. Namsanthai Kotagiri Tribal Pvt. Ltd.

And along with these, two other startups were promoted by entrepreneurs from the tribal communities. One is in Hasanoor, Tamarakarai in Erode district and the other is in Kotagiri in The Nilgiris.

How would these startups benefit from the funding by the Tamil Nadu government?

Funding to these startups from the Tamil Nadu government would benefit in different ways. 

Guhan Industrial and Manufacturing Solutions would develop natively manufactured abrasive waterjet cutting systems for high-precision engineering. 

Shortfundly which is an OTT platform for short-content genre content makers would increase its operations by subsequently increasing its subscriber base, getting more content makers onboard, and spreading its film festival to a wider audience. 

India Speak Research Lab would take the help of funding to increase its Artificial Intelligence (AI) models and Google Tag Manager (GTM) in the fields of media and entertainment.

Sprint6 Specialized Services would scale its operations by helping and serving more customers by restoring, optimizing, and renovating commercial restroom spaces. At the same time, they would offer proactive maintenance support for their restrooms.

TAMS Tribal Green Fuel would use the funding to facilitate the manufacturing of biomass briquettes out of Lantana Camara, which is an invasive weed. This would improve livelihood opportunities for the tribals in the area and would also save the forests by de-weeding. 

Namsanthai Kotagiri Tribal Pvt. Ltd. Would establish a trading company to trade tribal-produced coffee and honey. 

It is believed that funding from the Tamil Nadu government would not only boost the startup businesses but would also help in creating more employment opportunities for the SC/ST communities. At the same time, this step would also encourage people to enter into the field of entrepreneurship which would eventually contribute to the growth of the state. 

Which other startups received the funding from the Tamil Nadu government?

Along with funding Rs. 9.75 crores to eight startups, the Tamil Nadu government also funded Rs. 5 lakh each for 25 startups under the Tamil Nadu Seed Fund (TANSEED) grant. It must be noted that TANSEED is a flagship initiative of StartupTN and was launched by the Tamil Nadu government to support those startups which are in their early stages. 

After the awardees received this grant, they said that this step would motivate them to work harder and reach greater heights. 

It is believed by the Tamil Nadu government that these startups would play a significant role in achieving the state’s goal of reaching a USD 1 Trillion economy goal by the year 2030.

Proofread & Published By Naveenika Chauhan