STPI opens new incubation centre for AI startups in Kolkata

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) on Thursday opened a new incubation facility at Kolkata’s Salt Lake, to provide support to innovation-led entrepreneurship and facilitate IT exports from the region.

Inaugurating the facility, minister of state for commerce and industry and electronics and information technology, Jitin Prasada, said the facility would strengthen the IT/ITeS/ESDM industry in the state.

Spread over an area of 200,000 sq ft, STPI’s Salt Lake incubation facility offers ready-to-use office spaces and 75,000 sq ft of incubation space.

The facility is equipped with high-speed data communication and computing facilities to support IT/ITeS startups and SMEs.

The facility will provide comprehensive mentorship, with industry collaboration, and global networking opportunities.

He said the new incubation centre, with world-class infrastructure, will provide mentorship in frontier technologies such as AI, IoT, Blockchain, and FinTech and drive innovation, while also facilitating market access.

The facility will leverage Kolkata’s rich intellectual and creative legacy, to realise the city’s potential to become a hub for emerging technologies. 

The government is making a decisive intervention to strengthen India’s computing infrastructure and AI capabilities to realise the country’s potential to become a global technology leader, the minister stated.

STPI has been instrumental in creating a robust tech ecosystem in the country by building infrastructure and providing incubation support for new enterprises.

STPI, he said, currently operates 67 incubation centers across India, of which 59 are in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, ensuring support to entrepreneurship beyond metros. 

Besides, STPI has created 24 domain-specific incubation centres focused on HealthTech, MedTech, Blockchain, IoT, and Agritech, among others. These centres of excellence prioritise industry collaboration, enabling startups scale up for global markets and providing global networking opportunities.

He said the country is on a mission to transform itself to a global hub of technology and innovation and the incubation facility will help foster innovation and support enterprise while helping to ensure inclusive spread of technology-led growth.