Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Today, Odisha Startup Yatra and Startup Xpress 2023 were launched in the city by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. In order to reach 5000 start-ups by 2025, the initiative intends to encourage and promote entrepreneurship among local innovators.
This edition of the initiatives, according to an official press release, is 2.5 times larger than the previous one and will continue to develop incrementally, uniting more than 25,000 students from more than 260 institutions in order to generate more than 3500 ideas to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. Startup Odisha will have four specialized vans covering each of the 30 districts to guarantee optimum coverage and effectiveness.
Attending the event were Director Dr. Omkar Rai, MSME Principal Secretary Saswat Mishra, and Minister Pratap Keshari Deb. 50 Startup Yatra concepts that have been shortlisted will be invited to a 3-day acceleration workshop. The top 25 Ideas will then be chosen and invited to O-Hub for the demo day, where 10 will get seed capital of Rs 3 lakh each to turn their ideas into successful startup businesses.
Additionally, the top 20 concepts from Startup Xpress 2023 will be called for a final pitching round, and 10 of them will get cash prizes of Rs 10,000 apiece to inspire these budding entrepreneurs.
