Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Electronics and Information Technology, inaugurated the Software Technology Parks of India – Kohima (STPI-Kohima) as the 61st STPI centre in September 2021.
This was seen as another step forward in the state under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY) efforts to facilitate and support the IT/ITeS industry, tech MSMEs, startups, aspiring entrepreneurs, and innovators.
The STPI established Centers of Entrepreneurship (COEs) or Technology incubators across the country to collaboratively build India’s leadership in graphic design, games and entertainment, data analytics and AI, healthcare and agritech IT applications, and GIS applications (including drone technology).
STPI established OctaNE, a network of eight internetworked Centres of Entrepreneurship (CoE) to support technology-led innovation in North Eastern India, in 2020. There were eight CoEs, one of which was an IT Application in Graphic Design in Kohima.
Initially, ten Nagaland start-ups were selected under the STPI OctaNE Open Challenge Program 2.0, including Veyozo D Vadeo of Kohima; Akanito Assumi of Dimapur; Caimas Chachei of Kohima; Excellogics Tech Solutions Pvt Ltd in Kohima; MI-B4N (Blood for Nagaland) in Dimapur; NagaEd in Kohima; Musika in Kohima; Concept Flux in Kohima; and Stick & Stone in Kohima.
Contracts, however, have yet to be signed, and some start-ups have reportedly dropped out of the project.
Atoba Longkumer from Mokokchung, one of the founders of Tabernacle, the go-to-software for Churches, which is also one of the startups selected under OctaNE explained how OctaNE works, saying, “If anyone has an idea, one can apply in STPI OctaNE program and share the idea you are trying to build,” but it must be in the field of technology.
“Once you’ve applied, the application and business plan will be reviewed by a panel of experts, and the board will interview the shortlisted startups,” he adds.
When asked about the benefits of being selected for a program like OctaNE, he stated, “there are a lot of benefits starting from directly doing the funding, linking you up with mentors, support and guide you for raising funds towards marketing as well as scaling up through grants, equity and debt by leveraging connections with potential customers and CSR/Corporate sources as well as angels, High Net Worth Individuals (HNIs), and VCs as per appropriate size of start-ups.”
“They also provide Physical Lab Facilities such as access to domain labs, High Speed Internet Access, Network Operation Center (NOC), and a variety of other services.”
Most importantly, “they are signed with National Research and Development Corporation for filing Intellectual Property Rights such as Patenting (Drafting & Filing), Trademark, Copyright, and any other IPR related support/legal/statutory support,” but, he adds, “in exchange, you will have to give them some of your equity.”