Agriculture and related occupations hold the primary source of income for people belonging to the North-Eastern part of India.
The rich diversity that the region provides in terms of weather, climatic factors as well as the natural resources make the land favourable for the trial of all kinds of vegetation or agricultural practices.
North-East India has seen the recent rise and developing interests in entrepreneurship and startup organizations, which promises a great deal of support and push towards creating an environment of agriculture and allied related jobs and services.
This new and recent upsurge in curiosity towards the Agro-Sector calls for an increase in interest towards the said sectors.
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Northeast’s Start-up culture: NEATEHUB incubator under AAU
Started in 2018, as a Section 8 non-profit company, North East Agriculture Technology Entrepreneurs Hub ( NEATEHUB ) was established under the aegis of the Assam Agricultural University (AAU) Jorhat.
The central motive of the NEATEHUB incubator was to create an enabling environment for the agriculture-based startups and also to build a robust innovation-led startup ecosystem in the region.
AAU Incubator has been recognised as an “Atal Incubation Centre” by NITI Aayog, Government of India and as a “Knowledge Partner under the RKVY-RAFTAAR scheme” by the Department of Agri Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India.
Opens door to new opportunities for innovative Agri Business Idea
It is a platform which provides those who have an innovative Agri Business Idea and need support to transform that idea into a product or service.
With two programmes lined up from the incubator, ISANYA 5.0 and SARANYA 4.0, the hub invites applications for agripreneurship orientation and startup incubation respectively till August 10, 2021.
ISANYA 5.0 will grant in aid 5 Lakhs to those who have innovative ideas based on technology, service, business platform etc. The funding will be provided based on consistent performance as evaluated by the selection committee.
The incubator in this schemes takes ideas from those who are in very initial stage of entrepreneurship.
SARANYA 4.0 is a startup incubation programme which is fixed for those who are already in the market with a considerable position. The incubator grants aid upto 10-25 lakhs.
To be eligible for this programme, Indian Startup should be registered with DPIIT(Desired).
Good initiatives taken by NEATEHUB
The NEATEHUB incubator has by now helped agro based and allied startups by providing financial aids of around INR 1.35 crores. Also there are almost close to 100 startups that are funded under the aegis of the Incubator.
Thus, facilitating a huge section of entrepreneurship models implemented to boost the agricultural practises of the North-Eastern Zone.
The AAU incubator offers technology and IPR support, business monitoring, co-working space with plug and play environment, pilot production facility, marketing support and much more.
Horticulture, live stock, fisheries, food processing, soil conditioning, natural fibre, textile, medicinal and aromatic plants, digital agriculture and small farm machinery are the most important core sectors focused by the NEATEHUB.
The incubation Hub also trains agro based startups and also brings in industry linkages and networking, training and business coaching, technology transfer and IP portfolio management and many such services.
Currently headquartered in Jorhat and a branch in Guwahati, the AAU programme is a noble step in facilitating agriculture and allied services startups to grow more in the fast forwarding world.
