{"id":103612,"date":"2025-06-22T12:48:54","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T07:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/?p=103612"},"modified":"2025-06-22T12:48:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T07:18:54","slug":"goa-market-access-expo-highlights-states-rise-as-a-startup-testbed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/?p=103612","title":{"rendered":"Goa Market Access Expo highlights state\u2019s rise as a startup testbed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"auto\"><strong>Goa Khabar : With the energy of over 100 selected startups, the Goa Market Access Expo 2025 marked a defining moment in the state\u2019s journey to position itself as India\u2019s Creative and Innovation Capital.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">Organised by the Startup and IT Promotion Cell (SITPC) under the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications (DITEC), Government of Goa, the event connected startups with government officials from various departments and Industry.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">The Expo was inaugurated by Hon\u2019ble Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant, in the presence of Hon\u2019ble Minister for Tourism, ITE&amp;C and Printing &amp; Stationery, Rohan\u00a0 Khaunte, Chief Secretary Dr. V Candavelou, Director of DITE&amp;C Kabir Shirgaonkar, Managing Director of Infotech Corporation of Goa Ltd. Praveen Volvotkar, and CEO of Startup and IT Promotion Cell D S Prashant.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant spoke about aligning Goa\u2019s policies with national missions like Startup India and Digital India. \u201cGoa now has 635 DPIIT-registered startups, with \u20b93.9 crore in incentives already disbursed to 147 beneficiaries. We are focused on providing mentorship, market access, and momentum\u2014the three essentials for any startup to grow. Our efforts are aimed not just at Goa\u2019s growth, but at also contributing to Atmanirbhar Bharat. To support this vision, we are setting up a Global Capability Center that will provide IT firms, startups, and emerging industries with the infrastructure, support, and ease of doing business they need to grow and succeed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">At the heart of the Expo was a clear message: Goa is building a creative hub for learning and innovation while actively shaping its unique identity.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">\u00a0Khaunte highlighted the broader vision behind such initiatives.* \u201cOur aim is to position Goa as India\u2019s Creative Capital. This Expo is a window into the kind of talent and innovation taking root here. Goa is not just attracting startups; it\u2019s offering them a platform to build with purpose,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">In a fireside chat,\u00a0 Arjun Sagar, Founder of COCO LENI, echoed this sentiment, saying, \u201cGoa is the space for creativity. I wouldn\u2019t have built my startup anywhere else in the world.\u201d A panel discussion titled \u201cLiving the Startup Life, Differently: Why Founders Are Choosing Goa\u201d focused on Goa\u2019s distinct appeal\u2014not only as a workplace but as a complete ecosystem for entrepreneurs. Panelists referred to Goa as a \u201cSocial Capital\u201d where ideas, people, and purpose come together.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">*Highlighting key digital-first initiatives, Minister Khaunte spoke about new schemes being rolled out under Goa\u2019s startup and digital transformation roadmap*. \u201cWhether it\u2019s empowering women through the Digital Mahila Sashaktikaran and Drone Didi schemes, or launching AI-powered chatbots on Goa Online to enhance public services, our focus is on making innovation accessible and inclusive,\u201d he said. The Drone Didi scheme, in particular, aims to skill rural women in drone operations for use in agriculture and beyond.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">The curated walkthrough of the Expo, with Hon\u2019ble Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant and Hon\u2019ble Minister Rohan Khaunte, gave startups the chance to interact directly with them. Several senior government officials also engaged with the participating startups, including P. Pravimal Abhishek, IAS, Director of Transport; Kamal Datta, IFS, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests; Octavio A. Rodrigues, Captain of Ports; S. S. Gaonkar, Director of Skill Development &amp; Entrepreneurship; and Egna Cleetus, IAS, Collector of South Goa; and Stephen Fernandes, Chief Electrical Engineer, along with other officials from various departments. The networking session further enabled meaningful dialogue between innovators and departments, opening doors for potential pilot projects and collaborations.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">By offering a structured platform for visibility, validation, and access, the Goa Market Access Expo 2025 reflected the state\u2019s continued investment in its innovation ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">As Goa continues to build momentum as a startup-friendly state, the Expo reaffirmed its commitment to empowering founders, accelerating innovation, and shaping the state into India\u2019s Creative and Innovation Capital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Goa Khabar : With the energy of over 100 selected startups, the Goa Market Access Expo 2025 marked a defining moment in the state\u2019s journey to position itself as India\u2019s Creative and Innovation Capital. Organised by the Startup and IT Promotion Cell (SITPC) under the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications (DITEC), Government of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25169,"featured_media":103613,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,155],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-6","category-155"],"read":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/25169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=103612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103614,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103612\/revisions\/103614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/103613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=103612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=103612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=103612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}