StartupTN, the State Nodal Agency for Startup and Innovation, functioning under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, is taking strides to make Tamil Nadu the preferred global Startup destination. As part of the sectoral initiatives, StartupTN launched the Blue Economy Forum and the Healthcare & Life Sciences Forum at an event held in Chennai.

The forums were launched by Archana Patnaik, Secretary, MSME Department and Dr Velumani Arockiaswamy, creator of Thyrocare at the Anna Centenary Library, in the presence of Thiru. Sivarajah Ramanathan, Mission Director & CEO of StartupTN, Government officials, Entrepreneurs and other key stakeholders from the sectors.

"Sector-specific forums facilitate the connection between Startups and mentors, providing access to domain experts. These forums offer tailored support to Startups within their respective sectors, addressing their unique needs", said Archana Patnaik. 

The “Blue Economy Forum and the Healthcare & Life Sciences Forum” are strategic platforms to bring together sectoral startups, innovators, corporates, experts, industry bodies, aspirants, incubators, mentors, investors, government departments and other stakeholders for focused collaborations to make Tamil Nadu a leader in this space. StartupTN would facilitate them, extend all possible avenues to support them and also keep track of their progress", Thiru. Sivarajah Ramanathan said. 

On this occasion, StartupTN also inked Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with Trivitron Group of Companies, and Sathyabama Institute of Science & Technology and Indian Angel Network to enable Corporate - Startup connects for mentoring, product validation, testing, startup, and incubation support.

Coral, a dedicated incubation cohort for early stage startups in Blue Economy with potential seed investments and a mobile application by Lemurian Ventures, to sell dry fish and value added products were launched through the hands of MSME Secretary. Lemurian Ventures is one of Tamil Nadu SC/SC Startup Fund beneficiaries.

Among the salient features of the launch were a roundtable discussion on ‘Future of Healthcare and Innovation’ and Panel Discussion on ‘Blue Entrepreneurs and their Fundraising Voyage’.