TSSN aims at building ecosystem of 5,000 startups in State

TSSN is an initiative with a notion to build a solid ecosystem for social startups as an all-inclusive and cohesive body to foster entrepreneurship.

Hyderabad: The Telangana Social Startup Network (TSSN), a new establishment in the space of social impact that was inaugurated by Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar on Wednesday, aims at building an ecosystem of 5,000 startups in the State in the next five years along with the launch of Social Innovation Policy.

TSSN is an initiative with a notion to build a solid ecosystem for social startups as an all-inclusive and cohesive body to foster entrepreneurship and support for each other and the overall upliftment of startups and civic society in the State. One of the major activities as a part of the ecosystem would be the launch of Social Innovation Policy to streamline the process of establishment of social startups, recognition, public procurement, government-pilot, and mobilising diverse stakeholders of social impact.

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Speaking at the launch event, Somesh Kumar said: “The government engagement with social entrepreneurs is the need of the hour during the tough times we are going through. Government officers in the recent past have become sensitive enough in welcoming the startups solving crucial issues. I presume that this is going to be the way forward in building sustainable societies, more with establishments like TSSN, which can lead to considerable growth contribution by social startups in this financial year for Telangana.”

Speaking about the focussed approach towards social startups, IT Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said the paradigm of social startups should be looked at with the lens of a bottom-up approach, gender sensitivity, and citizens-first perspective. “The idea of social impact ecosystem is to fill the gap of receptivity to these startups from government and streamline the process of procurement. TSSN, an establishment today, will keep growing beyond borders,” he said.

Chief Innovation Officer of TSIC Ravi Narayan said TSSN’s way was to stitch smaller pieces of work being done across the State and eventually build a network of 5,000 startups in five years. “Activities like Bootcamp and Social Cafes implemented with the inclusion of incubators and government Departments are the real testimony to the idea of inclusive ecosystem we are aiming to create,” he said.

Viiveck Verma, Senior Advisor at TSIC, who is spearheading the body, said: “TSSN is first of its kind initiative any state in India would be taking up to build, enable and amplify social impact ecosystem in the State.”