Madurai, Dec 31 (KNN) With the aim to support women-led startup’s in the state, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday announced a slew of schemes.

The state government also announced that its nodal startup agency, StartupTN, will set up a regional startup hub in Madurai to scale emerging startups of the region.

Launched by Chief Minister MK Stalin, the initiatives will be targeted at women-led, greenetech and rural impact startups.

The state government will offer financial support, mentorship and incubation facilities.

The announced incentives will include incubation centres for women-led startups, increase in seed funding under the Tamil Nadu Startup Seed Grant Fund (TANSEED) scheme, among others.

The Chief Minister had earlier announced that the government will increase the seed funding from the current Rs 10 Lakh to Rs 15 Lakh for early-stage startups falling under the ‘special categories’ as part of TANSEED.

Of the total funds earmarked for the TANSEED scheme, 25 per cent will be set aside for women-led startups, while 10 per cent will be offered to rural-impact startups.

The state government has also made provisions for providing higher seed funding for eligible startups through equity or convertible debentures via an accelerated application processing window.

The government has planned to disburse Rs 15 Lakh grant in three equal instalments of Rs 5 Lakh each.

Tamil Nadu government is also planning to launch an annual accelerator for femtech startups and women-focused angel investors under the aegis of Tamil Angels platform to integrate startup ecosystem enablers in the space.

The chief minister also presided over the launch of the MentorTN portal which will enable founders to interact with other entrepreneurs and trusted subject matter experts to learn from their experience and scale their product line.

Besides, the body will also establish a procurement facilitation desk in Chennai that will allow startups to showcase their products for deployment in government and other public offices.

The state government’s Green Climate Fund will also fund commercially viable infrastructure projects that promote sustainability and circularity.  (KNN Bureau)