A BNE Exclusive Interview

The state will set up PRIME Startup Hubs at every district headquarters by the end of 2023.

Meghalaya won the ‘Best Performer’ in the state Start-up ranking 2021, just within a year of initiating the PRIME HUB. The PRIME- Promotion, and Incubation of Market-Driven Enterprises was set up in January 2020 and envisions making entrepreneurship a preferred career choice for the youth of Meghalaya. Through PRIME, the government is on a mission to create a dynamic and collaborative ecosystem for entrepreneurs.

With such grandeur steps, Meghalaya aims to, “emerge as one of the leading ‘Startup Hubs’ in India by 2023 through strategic partnerships, conducive ecosystem, investment and policy interventions”.

Flo Oberhofer, Program Head of the PRIME Startup Hub explains in detail the functioning of the hub and the way forward.

1. What is PRIME Startup Hub all about and how did it score so well in such a short time?

PRIME Hub is the entrepreneurship development initiative of the government of Meghalaya, which has been implemented by three agencies- the Meghalaya Basin Management Agency (MBMA), and the Meghalaya Institute of Entrepreneurship (MIE), and the IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP) as the knowledge partner.

In PRIME, we are developing the Start-up ecosystem apart from supporting the entrepreneurs of the state. For that, we have a couple of structured programs like our signature Chief Minister’s E-Champion Challenge. We are just about to launch its third edition, whereby we select the fifty best entrepreneurs of the state on a yearly basis. They go through an incubation process of 12 months in terms of mentoring, funding, branding, and linking them to the market.  We help them with packaging design, educate them on when to incorporate the company, about GST, and provide other statutory support. PRIME Hub also provides co-working spaces that can be used by them for free.

There is also the component of capacity building, where we handhold the selected entrepreneurs through a series of booth camps along their entrepreneurial journey.

Another component is mental support. Any entrepreneurial journey is never easy, always full of hurdles and challenges; especially so for those who are alone without a team. So apart from the already mentioned knowledge-based activities, we act as a supportive pillar for them, helping them overcome such issues.

Although incubation is our core agenda, we also have pre-incubation for entrepreneurs who are in the idea stage. We help them execute the idea.

2. With the government working on boosting entrepreneurship is there any plan to set up more Startup Hubs across the state?

Apart from having the core operating office in Shillong, there is a second HUB in Tura. Our philosophy is that we don’t want people to come to us; instead, we will go to them. We envisage having one PRIME Hub in every of the 12 district headquarters in Meghalaya by the end of next year.  One Hub is being constructed at Jowai that will hopefully be functional in the next six months.

For every 50 entrepreneurs that are selected in every cohort, we get hundreds of applications. For the first batch in 2020, we got around 700 applications, and for the second edition the applicants rose to more than 2000; we are definitely expecting even more applications for the third edition that we are just about to start.

3. Meghalaya is conducting entrepreneurial educational programs in schools and colleges.

We believe that it is important to start the entrepreneurial journey and to train the mind for such a journey very early. It is difficult to change the mind of a grown-up person, but the open minds of young people can be molded easily.  

Focusing on this, PRIME Hub supports the educational institutes of Meghalaya to start their own entrepreneurship development programs. For now, we have just a couple of institutions that have done entrepreneurship certification courses, but in India, everything is more theoretical which cannot be the case for entrepreneurship. As such we are helping the institutes with what we call Entrepreneurship Promotion and Development Programs, whereby we fund them to run very practical programs like hackathons, and grand challenges; they are also educated with speeches from both successful and failed entrepreneurs, e-sells, and other hands-on activities.

Recently we did an impact week with Lufthansa, the NGO arm of German Airlines where over 20 faculty members were trained in design thinking methodology, i.e, how to build a prototype from a mere idea. The faculties were trained to further run workshops. It also included a full-day program for students. Over 100 students worked on different projects like pollution, tourism, and other projects to find solutions for issues that are very relevant to Meghalaya. By the end of the day, the students pitched about 10-12 interesting prototypes.

We have been getting feedback from the faculty members that the program has changed the perspective of several participating students about entrepreneurship to a great extent. We have also met many enthusiastic faculty members in Meghalaya who had just been waiting for a push and will go the extra mile to motivate the students into start-ups as an alternative career option.

4. Tell us about the major hurdles faced by the entrepreneurs in Meghalaya

Meghalaya is on a different turf for start-ups altogether compared to states like Maharashtra or even Assam. Here the biggest hurdle is the attitude of society. We have entrepreneurs complaining about the discouragement from society, for the latter believe government jobs to be the best option. Entrepreneurship is not recognized as a respectable activity. This is why many backs off.

Our job at PRIME is to change that mindset, through several outreach programs and building public opinion in support. It is important for society to understand entrepreneurship as a big opportunity for the youths of Meghalaya. There is already a scarcity of jobs and the unemployed youths can choose start-ups instead. Communities and entrepreneurs need to understand that even if it’s a failure at the first attempt, they can always get up and start anew.

Again, there is the hurdle of finance that PRIME Hub is helping with.

5. Historically, the NE states do not receive enough investment. What about investment and loan scenarios for Startups in the state?

When we started the program about two years back, our prime focus was on the investment issue. One of the major reasons for PRIME’s success is that we resolved this issue to a certain degree. Firstly, the Meghalaya government provided certain funds, whereby we provided a kick-start grant of up to Rs. 5 lakh for entrepreneurs with a promising first prototype.

However, we discourage giving grants and prefer zero-interest loans instead as it develops in them a sense of responsibility and builds credit history as well. PRIME also provides a scale-up innovation loan of up to Rs. 50 lakhs for scaling up the business of existing entrepreneurs. This is also a zero-interest loan without collateral.

Thirdly, PRIME Hub has a partnership with the North East Small Finance Bank for funding the food processing entrepreneurs. This loan is up to Rs. 25 lakhs for those who wish to grow their business further in food processing, and Rs. 5 lakhs for those entrepreneurs who wish to start in this sector.

While the first two are specifically for start-up innovators, the last can be availed by anybody who wishes to be in food processing like those making jams, pickles, bakeries, etc.

6. Apart from food processing and handicraft, what other sectors are the start-ups in?

The start-ups in any place are usually in line with the socio-economic structure of the place. In Meghalaya, the majority of the start-ups are in food processing, handicraft, and tourism. But in the last two years, we have seen traction in the technology sector like e-commerce, IT solutions, and others.

From our end, we are trying to foster technologies, especially in academics. But the pillars of the start-up ecosystem in Meghalaya remain in food processing, handicraft, and tourism. Our belief is that they can make a huge difference as they are generating long-term employment although they might not grow exponentially. In the end, they contribute to building a very sturdy ecosystem. However, we are also supporting the rest who are building solutions for local problems.

7. Does PRIME connect start-ups to the market?

The PRIME Hub is a one-stop shop for every entrepreneur of the state apart from the 50 who are being incubated annually. We connect them to the local retail stores or even outside the state. Selling is a core skill every entrepreneur needs to acquire. We focus on building the selling capacity- how to sell, different ways to sell, how to get leads, using social media marketing, etc to hone their sales skills.

Although we provide direct market linkage we do not want entrepreneurs to get dependent on us. Selling has been seen as a weak point for many.  

8. Suggestions were made by the Centre for further improvement of the Meghalaya Start-up Hub. What are the plans ahead?

PRIME Hub still has a long way to go, especially in academics. We have many bright minds across the state, most of whom are left with the only option to leave Meghalaya and go elsewhere in search of jobs, most of which are again low paying. That is mainly due to job scarcity in the state.

The key is to show them the opportunities available in the state, and for that, we still have a long way to go. Societal pressure for government jobs needs to be uprooted.

We are launching the PRIME-Sauramandala Rural Entrepreneurship Fellowship to reach rural entrepreneurs. The program is an initiative by the Planning Department in collaboration with the Sauramandala Foundation. Each PRIME Fellow along with two local PRIME associates from Meghalaya will be placed in dedicated remote blocks of Meghalaya where they will be actively promoting rural entrepreneurship. The PRIME Associates from Meghalaya will support the PRIME Fellows in understanding the local culture, dynamics, and insights. Fellows and Associates will be engaged full-time for the duration of the fellowship. The teams will identify the most promising rural (nano) entrepreneurs in the respective blocks and villages, understand their challenges, and handhold them on topics like machinery selection, branding, and other incubation activities.

Apex institutes of the states have done much work on a research basis for start-ups, we are here to convert these on a commercial basis.

9. How do entrepreneurs connect with PRIME Hub?

PRIME Hub is a very open organization where interested people can mail us or message us on social media directly for queries or help. But the best way is to walk into one of the Hubs and discuss the issues with us personally.