Bhubaneswar, Feb 25: Startup Odisha hosted ‘AIKYAM 2025 – Strengthening Odisha’s Incubation Ecosystem’, a capacity-building program designed for incubators and academic institutions.
This initiative aims to foster collaboration, share global best practices, and strengthen Odisha’s growing startup ecosystem. The all-day-long event was held at O-Hub, Bhubaneswar, bringing together incubators, academicians, and leaders dedicated to shaping the future of entrepreneurship in the state.
Many incubators who attended today's event expressed their appreciation and conveyed their gratitude towards Startup Odisha.
Speaking on the occasion, Kamaljit Das, Chief Administrative Officer of Startup Odisha, highlighted the importance of active collaboration of incubators within the startup ecosystem.
“AIKYAM 2025 is a crucial step towards strengthening the foundation of Odisha’s startup ecosystem. I urge incubators and academic institutions to actively engage in sharing knowledge, and collaborate to foster a dynamic environment where innovation and entrepreneurship can thrive,” he said.
Aiming to position Odisha as the top 3 “Startup Hubs” in India, Startup Odisha consistently conducted events to cultivate a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. The event was conducted in the presence of the Chief Financial Officer of Startup Odisha, Prafulla Mallick, Itishree Panigrahi, Soumya Ranjan Panda, and Ajaya Kumar Dash.
This event further strengthened incubators with the insights and resources necessary to develop strong, scalable incubation centres. The first session, led by Shri Soobhankar Pati, CEO & Director of IIT Bhubaneswar Research & Entrepreneurship Park, focused on creating an entrepreneurial culture within academic institutions through incubation.
This was followed by a session on monitoring and measuring startup success within incubators by Naresh Priyadarshi, former CEO of IIT Delhi Innovation and Incubation Centre. After that, Barada P Panigrahy, CEO of SSU Innovation Foundation, discussed designing sustainable revenue models for incubators. The day concluded with an interactive Q&A session where participants engaged directly with experts.
The event served as a vital platform to foster innovation, collaboration, and knowledge exchange—paving the way for a stronger, more resilient incubation ecosystem in Odisha.
