More than 200 founders, entrepreneurs, mentors and representatives from the startup ecosystem converged at Gangrel Reservoir, Dhamtari on Sunday to witness a unique combination of entrepreneurship, innovation and networking.
The one-day event was held against a picturesque backdrop of Gangrel, and entrepreneurs could share experiences, learn new business ideas and connect more deeply with their fellow professionals. During the retreat, new topics were covered such as Startup India, Artificial Intelligence, Chhattisgarh Startup policy, Marketing, and Companies Growth and Investments.
In order to create jobs and opportunities for new business, entrepreneurship can be facilitated to link local resources and the talent of the youth, Dhamtari entrepreneur and Collector Abinash Mishra said. He pointed to the areas of agri-business and agro-processing, tourism, water related, processing of local products, and the digital technology and related services as potential industries where start-up businesses could offer opportunities.
The Joint Secretary of DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, Sanjiv Singh had an interaction with startup entrepreneurs and elaborated about policy support and funding opportunities under Startup India.
Experienced entrepreneurs also shared their business experiences, their challenges, learnings from their failures and the success of their journey to the event. Experts spoke about various topics such as leveraging AI in early-stage startups, the Chhattisgarh Startup Policy 2025-30, build of startups around the agriculture sector and Bastar region, Product Market Access, social media branding, and legal compliance.
The other big focus of the retreat was networking. Participation in such challenges as the Founder Introduction Cycle, the Founder to Founder meet and Founder to the public interactions allowed participants to get together and share ideas in an informal setting.
The event is being seen as a meaningful step towards promoting a start-up axis in Dhamtari. The aim of the event was to foster innovation and create new employment and economic growth opportunities in the district, by highlighting the opportunities in these sectors, bringing entrepreneurship closer to them.