Startup Initiation

1. Demographic dividend is one of India’s biggest strengths. However, our demographic dividend can be leveraged only when a suitable ecosystem is made available for the youth to meaningfully deploy their energies, skills and talents towards the nation building and economic development processes. Hence facilitating entrepreneurship, which in turn leads to value creation and job creation, is a governance and a moral imperative which the Government of Goa is unflinchingly committed to. Hence the Government of Goa has released this start-up policy, which pertains to proliferation of technology start-ups and unleashing of economic opportunities across the state of Goa.

2. Goa is a popular urban state with the highest per-capita GDP and enviable human development indices. Goa’s cosmopolitan culture, impressive infrastructure, quality manpower, picturesque landscape, clean environment and development orientation, not only makes Goa an ideal base for entrepreneurs to realise their dreams, but will also play a key role in facilitating an environment that is supportive and makes the start-ups both technologically innovative and globally competitive. It is towards this objective that this policy has been drafted.

3. One of the transformative factors of technology start-ups is its matchless potential to exponentially scale up, leading to large scale job creation. While the Government is committed to promoting entrepreneurs from Goa and generating employment for Goans, the Government is equally committed to inviting the best and the brightest entrepreneurial and technology minds from outside Goa in order to build a robust start-up eco system within the state.

4. The Government recognises that education and skill development that is aligned to the requirements of the industry are vital for a robust start-up eco-system. Hence the Government is committed to continuously improving the Goan education system, and promoting aspects such as Do-It-Yourself, as part of the school curriculum.

5. In order to incentivise promising start-ups to be registered in Goa, the Government of Goa, on a case to case basis, can grant any exemption beyond the scope of this policy, to start-ups operating in the following areas with a special focus on areas such as smart cities, urban management, waste management, renewable energy, education, health care, communication, and entertainment:

- Internet of things

- Artificial intelligence

- Machine Learning

- Interaction Design

- Big Data Analytics

- Robotics

- 3-D Printing

- Data Sciences

- Drones

- Virtual Reality/ Augmented Reality/ Merged Reality

6. Building a lasting institutional framework that changes the start-up landscape of Goa, and makes the state an attractive start-up base for technology entrepreneurs, involves a concentrated strategy and robust implementation. Based on the changing dynamics of the technology industry, entrepreneurs, human capital, and other aspects related to the start-up eco-system, this policy will keep evolving and remain proactively responsive to put Goa on top of the start-up game.