Staff Correspondent
JORHAT, Jan 31: The North-East Agriculture Technology Entrepreneurs Hub (NEATEHUB), the agri-business incubator of the Assam Agricultural University (AAU) at its campus at Borbheta here distributed cheques amounting to Rs 1.35 crore to 11 agri startups of the incubator in a function organized at the seminar hall of the incubator on Saturday.
The funding was made under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana – Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied Sectors Rejuvenation scheme.
The entrepreneurs selected were from the Isanya and Saranya incubation programmes of the incubator for Idea and Startup stages respectively from the first three batches.
Incubatees from Isanya received pre-seed funding of Rs 5 lakh each, whereas the startups from Saranya received a maximum funding of up to Rs 25 lakh.
The chief guest for the valedictory and cheque distribution ceremony was Professor VS Ravishankar, Director of the National Institute of Design, Jorhat.
The AAU Vice Chancellor Dr Bidyut Chandan Deka, CEO of NEATEHUB Dr K Karthikeyen and Director, Board of NEATEHUB, Dr Danish Tamuly, also attended the function.
Prof VS Ravishankar and Dr BC Deka handed over the cheques and certificates to the entrepreneurs.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof Ravishankar lauded the efforts of NEATEHUB to create a sustainable environment for the budding entrepreneurs of the region.
He stated that NID and NEATEHUB will collaborate to aid entrepreneurs to innovate and scale up their ventures to generate more employment in the region.
Dr Deka, in his address, emphasised the need for innovation in agri-business to facilitate agri ventures in the region.
He congratulated the entrepreneurs and encouraged them to take the produce from the north-eastern region to the national as well as international level.
Earlier, CEO of NEATEHUB Dr K Karthikeyen, in his welcome address, underscored the need for technology-based innovation in the north-eastern region for which adequate support and exposure was a vital requirement.
Dr Karthikeyan said that due to the pandemic, the cheque distribution and valedictory ceremony was delayed by a few months. Dr Danish Tamuly, Director on Board NEATEHUB, offered the vote of thanks. It may be mentioned that NEATEHUB was established in 2019 at the AAU campus and is an Atal Incubation Centre.
