Innovation Valley: Making Vizag the incubating hub for tomorrow

The AP Innovation Society, a.k.a the Innovation Valley, is playing a vital role in encouraging the entrepreneurial minds within the start-up community. Winny Patro, CEO of Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society, reflects how today’s Vizag is the incubating hub for tomorrow.

“With opportunities and options that provide the rich ground for growing ideas, one can look forward to a thriving entrepreneurial culture in the city with the Innovation Valley. This initiative by the State Government offers infrastructure and support, to the budding industry stalwarts in the state.”
The entrepreneurial and innovative mindset

“When entrepreneurship ventures started increasing in Bengaluru and Chennai from 2005 to 2010, it was handheld by local ecosystems, rather than governmental support. This was a time of change, and by 2014 the entire country opened up to innovations, and entrepreneurship, in a big way.

Change could be seen across the world, as the economy started to be driven by new companies. This was a crucial time for our newly bifurcated state. We were faced with the challenge of building the state from scratch, and thus the thought of an entrepreneur in every family came about. Every family is relevant when it comes to the economy. Every household has an impact, and hence the vision of the Hon’ble Chief Minister is translated as such.

With innovative thinking, relevant manpower and the right mindset as the key factors, it is the need of the hour to create a huge workforce, through many start-ups. These will create the opportunity for more people to make a living.”

Advantage Andhra

”Andhra Pradesh has multiple advantages. The second longest coastline gives a geographical advantage. In fact, historically speaking, entrepreneurship in AP started from the waters, with fishing.

Agriculture-related opportunities are aplenty in the state. The mountains and beaches lend to tourism opportunities too. Statistics over the past 30 years also indicate that a large percentage of people who went to the US from AP, set up their own companies after working for some time. This has especially been noted for the IT sector, not to forget mega-ventures of the GVK and GMR Groups. With its mindset historically tuned towards entrepreneurship, a large percentage of start-ups do have representations from AP. A supportive government and IT ministry also make it a state of entrepreneurship.”

Role of APIS

“AP Innovation Society (APIS) provides the platform to help start-ups realise their full potential. With multiple initiatives growing under its wing, over 200 startups are being incubated at APIS right now. It also assists in implementing technology and has played a key role of bringing technology into governance. The States’ e-governance plans are the second of its kind across the world. Additional projects, that are slated to come in the future, would be from the agri-tech, ed-tech, fin-tech, social space, retail-tech, and shipping logistics sectors.

Besides being a platform for start-ups to grow, APIS also enables them to learn from best practices across the world. Innovation from Israel, technology from Silicon Valley and gaming/ education advancements from Hong Kong and Finland are focussed upon. Additionally, APIS approaches colleges, to encourage students and gives them a platform through Hackathons that allow young minds to push their boundaries, acquire skill-sets and learn quickly.”

Becoming a part

”Entrepreneurship and innovation needn’t be geographically specific, and entrepreneurs from diverse sectors, both national and global, are welcome to become a part of the AP Innovation Society. In fact, they can enrol at any stage of development, ranging from the idea stage to the growth stage. To be a part, one needs to simply send in a request, which would be shared with the team that screens them once every fifteen days. Strength of idea, its feasibility and the team’s ability are a few factors that come into play while short-listing. Those who pass through this process are invited to be a part of the ecosystem and are connected to both incubators and accelerators. They get to work from any of the incubation centers in Kakinada, Vijayawada, Tirupati or in Vizag. Those who aren’t selected needn’t despair, for they are advised on the areas they are lacking and they also get a chance to apply again.”

Roadblocks

”Great teams make successful start-ups. That said, the biggest hurdle start-ups face is proper human resources. Students, who are good at entrepreneurial ventures, often join MNCs or well-established start-ups. With parental pressure too, many aren’t ready to invest time on building enterprises. Lack of awareness, both by parents and young minds becomes a major hurdle. Proper skill-sets are lacking among many, due to a gap in the existing system of education.”

With a democratic approach and a growing scope, AP Innovation Society is all set to ring in new directions in development. We wish them more power in their endeavours.