Northeast region offers unexplored potential for start-ups: Union minister

Union minister Jitendra Singh, on Tuesday, said the Northeast region offers unexplored potential for start-ups.

Speaking at the 'International Conference on Start-ups, Sustainability, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in North East India', organised by the North East Regional Research And Resource Centre, the minister said the Northeast region is inherently a land of innovation, and women have been at the forefront of the start-up ventures in the region.

The minister further said that Northeast, start-ups and women have always been the priority for the government and claimed that the previous governments had neglected the region.

He said in the recent past various stakeholders in the start-up ecosystem such as incubators, accelerators and other venture funds have emerged in the Northeastern region, leading to a large number of start-ups.

He said because of the initiatives launched by the BJP government at the Centre, start-ups have grown to over 90,000 from about 300 to 400 in eight years from 2014 to 2022 and there are more than 100 unicorns. The minister observed that 36 out of 100 unicorns have women as founders or co-founders.