The Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI), under the leadership of its President Pratima Dhond, continues to play a pivotal role in strengthening Goa’s startup and entrepreneurship ecosystem through a range of impactful initiatives, many of which are implemented in close partnership with the Government of Goa and key ecosystem stakeholders.
In recognition of its sustained contribution, GCCI was felicitated at the Goa Startup Conclave organised on the occasion of National Startup Day by the Startup & IT Promotion Cell (SITPC), Department of Information Technology, Electronics & Communications, Government of Goa. The award was presented by the Minister for Information Technology, Electronics & Communications, Tourism and Printing & Stationery, Rohan Khaunte. GCCI Vice President Yatin Kakodkar and Deputy Director Ambika Dhakhenkar received the award on behalf of the Chamber.
During the event, Khaunte highlighted the Seed Capital Grant Scheme under the Goa Startup Policy 2025, which offers financial assistance of up to Rs 10 lakh to selected startups.
GCCI expressed its gratitude to the Government of Goa, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant and Minister Rohan Khaunte for their consistent support towards building a vibrant startup ecosystem in the state.
The Chamber has been actively contributing to policy and ecosystem development through its representation on key government platforms. The chamber’s representative served as a Judge for the Goa Open Innovation Challenge for Startups organised by the Department of IT, Government of Goa and represents on the Department of IT Screening Committee for the allocation of industrial land to startups at the Tuem Industrial Estate, facilitating smoother onboarding for new ventures in Goa.
Among the flagship initiatives led and co-facilitated by GCCI are:
- Tech Manthan (AI for Career Building): A large-scale workshop series launched in collaboration with the Goa Technology Association (GTA) to equip non-technology students with AI awareness and digital employability skills, with a target outreach of 4,000 students across 30 colleges, aligned with the Swayampurna Goa mission.
- Business Diva: A joint initiative of the GCCI Women’s Wing and FiiRE Goa, this competition supports women-led enterprises across early-stage, scaling, and self-help group categories through cash prizes, mentorship and funding access.
- Industry–Academia MOUs: GCCI has signed multiple MOUs with institutions to facilitate internships, training, startup mentoring and joint events.
- Asturi – Business Mentoring & Incubator Support: A flagship Women’s Wing initiative dedicated to mentoring and celebrating women entrepreneurs across Goa.
- One of GCCI’s landmark technology-focused initiatives, The Goa Developer’s Summit (GDS) 2.0, was held on 11 October 2025 at the BITS Pilani K.K. Birla Goa Campus. Organised in partnership with the Department of IT, Electronics & Communications, the summit witnessed participation from over 1,300 developers, students and entrepreneurs, and featured more than 25 industry experts. The “Entrepreneurship Edition” focused on AI, FinTech and future technologies, reinforcing Goa’s positioning as an emerging innovation hub.
The National Startup Day programme, organised by SITPC under the theme “Empowering Startups. Enabling Ecosystem”, brought together key policymakers, incubators, financial institutions and ecosystem enablers. The event featured policy awareness sessions, panel discussions on leveraging central government schemes, and a pitching workshop by Amarsh Chaturvedi, Co-founder of Traverse and Neural Machines.
The programme concluded with the felicitation of startups, incubators, academicians and industry associations for their contributions to Goa’s startup ecosystem. GCCI was among the industry associations recognised for its continued efforts in nurturing entrepreneurship and innovation in the state.
Speaking on the occasion, GCCI reiterated its commitment to working closely with the Government of Goa, industry leaders and academic institutions to create an inclusive, future-ready and globally competitive startup ecosystem for Goa
