Centre of Entrepreneurship

A group of eight internetworked CoEs to support technology-led innovation in the North Eastern India 

Objective: To incubate startups in new and emerging technologies in the areas of electronics and IT; provide a robust platform for startups, with single umbrella support services like mentorship services, seed capital assistance, marketing support (including IPR protection) etc.; create employment opportunities in new innovative startup units; develop a tinkering and innovation culture amongst students and professionals by establishing innovation zones for startups; and facilitate E-Commerce activities and applications.

Focus Areas: IoT in Agriculture at Guwahati, Emerging Tech (AR/VR) at Imphal, Gaming & Animation at Shillong, Data Analytics & AI at Agartala, IT Applications in Graphics Design at Kohima, IT Application in Healthcare & AgriTech at Gangtok, Gaming & Entertainment at Aizwal, and GIS Applications (including Drone Technology) at Itanagar  

Location: To realise the vision of Digital North East 2022 into firm action plan for each of the North East States, STPI has set up Centre of Entrepreneurship & Startup Innovation Zone in each of the state of North East India in phase-wise manner. 

Partners: Stakeholders of OctaNE are:

Government: Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), STPI, STPINEXT, State Govt. of State Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh.

Academia: IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, Manipur University, IIIT Guwahati, NIT Shillong, NIT Manipur, Assam Agricultural University, IIM-CIP, NIELIT Shillong, NIELIT- Guwahati, NIELIT Imphal, Assam Don Bosco University,  NIELIT Kolkata, Assam Rajiv Gandhi University, North Eastern Hill University Govt. Polytechnic Seithkema, NIELIT KOHIMA, National Institute of Technology (NIT) Tripura,T ripura University (Central University),Tripura Institute of Technology, National Institute of Technology (NIT) Mizoram, Mizoram University, NIELIT Gangtok, Sikkim Manipal University, NIT Arunachal Pradesh, North Eastern Regional Institute of Science & Technology (NERIST) and Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Co-operative Management.

Industry: Olatus Systems P Ltd., Guwahati, Webx Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Guwahati, Kolkata, DZ Engineering, Branch Office: Guwahati, Toonz Animations, Edelstein Techno Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Imphal, Total Start Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Developers, Kolkata, Three Q Space FZ LLC, DUBAI, Lamzing Technologies P Ltd, Imphal, Chillibreeze Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Shillong, Healthnine Technologies P Ltd., Skills Tech Initiatives & Ventures P Ltd., Salt Lake City, Kolkata.

Industry Association: Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

Venture Funding Agencies: North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFi)

Others: Technology Incubation Centre (TIC), IIT Guwahati & Tea Board of India

Target Beneficiaries: 367 startups are expected to be benefitted over a period of 5 Years.

Duration: Five years since commencement of operation

Budget & Source of Funding: Total approved budget for OctaNE is Rs. 68.76 Crores shared by MeitY (Rs. 61.89 crore) and STPI (Rs. 6.87 crore).

Achievements: 6 startups onboarded

No. of Mentors: 26 

Chief Mentors: 

• Shri Kumaran Venkatesh, President & Partner at AXLerateNow for CoE in IoT in Agriculture, at Guwahati
• Shri Biren Ghose, Country Head, Technicolor for CoEs in Animation at Shillong and Emerging Technologies in AR/VR at Imphal
• Shri Sridhar Muppidi, Co-Founder, Purple Talk India Pvt. Ltd. for CoE in IT Applications in Graphic Design at Kohima
• Shri Pete Draper, CEO, Makuta Effects Pvt. Ltd. for CoE in Gaming & Entertainment at Aizawl
• Shri Kalyan Kar, Co-Founder & Director, InQube Innoventures for CoE in Data Analytics and AI at Agartala
• Shri Rahul Shingrani, Co-Founder & CEO, ten3T Healthcare for CoE in IT applications in healthcare & Agritech at Gangtok 
• Shri Ankit Mehta, Co-Founder & CEO, ideaForge Technology Pvt. Ltd. for CoE in GIS (including Drone Technology) at Itanagar