Udhayanidhi Stalin inaugurates the Start-up TN Chennai Hub office.

In an effort to achieve the goal of nurturing 15,000 startups and positioning the state among the top 20 startup hubs globally by 2032, Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development, Udayanidhi Stalin, inaugurated the StartupTN Chennai Hub office at the Chennai Metro Rail Limited building in Nandanam. The newly established facility, located on the 10th floor, offers flexible seating options tailored for startups, providing workspace as well as accommodation for Startup TN officials. This initiative aims to tackle the challenges faced by startups from outside Chennai when seeking workspace during their visits to the city. The office includes 15 cabins, designated areas for venture capitalists and mentors, and a meeting hall for collaborative discussions between start-ups and investors. Minister for MSME, TM Anbarasan, along with MSME Secretary Archana Patnaik and Mission Director and CEO of StartupTN, Sivarajah Ramanathan, were also present at the inauguration. Ramanathan mentioned that StartupTN had previously operated from a temporary office in Guindy and now, as a state nodal agency, it has its own headquarters. This development coincides with the upcoming Global Startup Summit in January 2025, which the state will be hosting. Ramanathan emphasized that Tamil Nadu already hosts smaller startup hubs in Madurai, Tirunelveli, Erode, Tanjore, Salem, and Hosur, and the new office will further bolster the state's startup infrastructure. The number of DPIIT registered startups in Tamil Nadu has surged to over 7,950, a significant increase from the 2,300 registered in March 2021.