In the last four years, almost ₹70 crore has been invested across 205 start-ups from various funds of Tamil Nadu’s entrepreneurship development programmes, the State’s MSME Minister TM Anbarasan said on Thursday. “Another ₹20 crore is allocated for start-ups in the current fiscal year,” he added. Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin took the step to professionalise the nodal agency for entrepreneurship and start-ups and set up ‘StartupTN’, and appointed a professional CEO for it, he said.
The Minister was speaking at The Hindu Tamil Nadu Startup Summit 2025 in Chennai.
StartupTN already has 10 regional hubs across Chennai, Madurai, Erode, Tirunelveli, Salem, Hosur, Thanjavur, Tiruchy, Coimbatore, Villupuram. A new regional hub is set to come up in Thoothukudi this fiscal year with a focus on space tech, port and logistics start-ups, the Minister said. He also drew attention to the ministry’s newly-announced scheme around ‘one start-up in every village.’ Under this, the State is set to select 100 villages and nurture one start-up in every village, he said.
Multisectoral approach
”The Deputy CM of the State will be launching the logo and website of the State’s upcoming Global Start-up Summit on Friday,” the minister said.
Speaking earlier at the event, Atul Anand, Additional Chief Secretary, MSME Department, Tamil Nadu said that Tamil Nadu’s start-up growth reflects the potential of the State. The state’s performance has been multi-faceted with expertise in software services, the medical tourism sector, agriculture startups, drones, AI and deep tech, he added. “One of the reasons [for Tamil Nadu’s success] is our multisectoral approach. It is a rich mix that will make Tamil Nadu the hub of the start-up ecosystem,” he said.
The summit saw participation of various stakeholders like the government, industry, academia and the start-up ecosystem. Speakers included AR Unnikrishnan, Chairman, CII Tamil Nadu State Council and Managing Director, Saint-Gobain India Private Ltd (Glass Group); C Muthamizhchelvan, Vice-Chancellor, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, and Sivarajah Ramanathan, Mission Director and Chief Executive Officer, Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission, among others.
