CII holds discussions with Trichy startups

Trichy: CII Tamil Nadu and Centre for Entrepreneurship Development and Incubation (CEDI) in NIT Trichy on Friday held a roundtable discussion to assess and improve the startup ecosystem in Trichy. A team from the state startup panel of CII Tamil Nadu chaired the meeting and took inputs on the requirements from startups, incubation centres and other stakeholders who sought the trade body's intervention to support the upskilling of youths and physical infrastructure for startups to scale up.Rahul Ganapathy, convener, state startup panel, CII Tamil Nadu, and Susil Kumar, CEO of CEDI-NIT Trichy, held discussions with startup founders and stakeholders, including Entrepreneurship Development and Innovation Institute (EDII)-Anna Business Incubation Research Foundation (ABIRF) and Tamil Nadu Technology (iTNT) hub, Trichy. Experts spoke about the need for better coordination and collaboration between industries and academia to share with students practical problems faced by industries. "Startups have expressed their demands for better infrastructure like common facility centres and the need to enhance the skill set of youngsters in the region. We will conduct similar discussions in other regions, including Madurai, Coimbatore and Tuticorin. A comprehensive report will be submitted to the state govt by CII to improve and expand the startup ecosystem across the state," Rahul Ganapathy said. Discussions covered emerging technologies to focus on and opportunities available for startups in the centre's defence corridor and the state's agro-industrial corridor. Trichy is a node in both corridors. Several startups from food, health and tech sectors shared their challenges and sought solutions through policy decisions of the govts.