Governor Anandiben Patel on Tuesday asked youth to move from being job-seekers to becoming job-creaters through entrepreneurship, echoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Startup India, Standup India and Viksit Bharat 2047.
She was addressing UP Startup Samvad 3.0 at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU). Patel stated that start-ups should not chase funding alone.
“Funding is important, but five fundamentals are more important — the right problem, the right solution, the right team, the right mentor, and the right market. If these are strong, capital will follow,” she said.
She also spoke about looking beyond technology and focusing on real problems in agriculture, health, education, water conservation, sanitation and rural development. Stressing on the need to protect intellectual property, she said the inauguration of Kalam Patent Centre at AKTU is a key step in securing ideas and multiplying their commercial value.
Recalling her tenure in Gujarat, the governor shared the model that boosted women entrepreneurship. As revenue minister, she waived government fees if property was purchased in a woman’s name. “The treasury lost ₹7,000 crore in two years, but thousands of women became property owners. This solved the collateral problem for bank loans,” she said.
She also said that the MOUs signed should not remain on paper. They must translate into guidance, technical support, investment, market access and employment opportunities for start-ups.
The event brought start-ups, incubators, investors, industry, government departments and academicians on one platform. More than 100 start-ups, 50+ incubation centres, 30+ investors and VC funds and around 1,500 participants including MSMEs, industry bodies, academic institutions, researchers and students participated.
Selected start-ups pitched before investors including angel investors, VCs, AIFs, SIDBI, government funding agencies, banks, corporates and family offices and a potential investment pipeline of about ₹15 crore was worked out.
