The startup economy plays a crucial role in transforming job-seeking youth into job creators. The Assam government has already signalled its commitment to strengthening the startup ecosystem in the state by creating a separate Department of Innovation, Incubation and Startups (DIIS). The creation of a new dedicated administrative department for overall supervision of the development of Startups in the state is aimed at addressing issues of funding, mentorship, policy development, regulatory specification and promoting Startups. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while chairing a review meeting on startups, rightly emphasised fostering a culture of innovation in educational institutions to inspire innovative ideas for new and sustainable startup ideas. Fresh ideas of startups being unique are critical for their successful incubation for a refined business model to attract funding for execution. The state government notifying the Assam Start-up and Innovation Policy 2025 in February sent a clear message to all stakeholders about its sincere efforts to give a strong policy push to Startup initiatives in the state. The policy seeks to identify and address the challenges faced by entrepreneurs, provide incentives to stimulate the startup ecosystem, and position Assam as a preferred destination for new ventures and innovative businesses. It has incorporated an ambitious vision of transforming Assam into a leading start-up hub, renowned for its innovative solutions to global challenges, and to contribute significantly to the state’s economic development and job creation. Learning the lessons from challenges such as funding drought, limited number of venture capitalists, and angel investors faced by existing startups in the state and elsewhere in the country is important while incentivising new ideas and innovation for incubation. The new policy states that startups will be nurtured to become eligible for financial support under the “Assam Startup SIDBI Venture Capital Fund” to cater to the various needs like raw material purchase, marketing and other scaling-up costs required for commercialisation of products and services of the eligible startups. It also promises credit linkage to startups through partnerships to be formed with banks, non-banking financial companies, and financial institutions to facilitate easier access to working capital loans for startups. These financial bodies will be encouraged to expand their lending services to startups and establish dedicated desks in selected branches for streamlined financing and banking, the policy adds. The Assam Government will seek to establish formal collaborations with prominent e-commerce companies, including Open Network Digital Commerce (initiated by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Government of India), the policy states, exuding confidence that these partnerships will span both multi-product and sector-specific platforms, aiming to offer a digital marketing space for recognised startups in Assam to display and promote their products. Fiscal incentives announced in the policy include one-time Grant-in-Aid up to Rs 10 lakh to Startups with My Assam Start-up Id (MASI) recognition to develop their ideas to a proof-of concept stage, a grant up to Rs. 25 lakh for launching the pilot projects towards testing their viability in the market which will utilised for the development of a Minimum Viable Product, procurement of essential equipment and raw materials, and cover expenses related to product testing and certifications for the enhancement of their product or service offerings; scale up grant up to Rs. 50 lakh which may be utilised towards raw material purchase, marketing and other scaling up costs required for supporting the commercialization of products and services of the startup and 100% reimbursement on patent filing cost. The incentives are huge to inspire youth to nurture organic and innovative business ideas, provided they have the determination to develop a sustainable model to create their own space in the state, national and global startup landscape. The proposal is to set up satellite centres of ‘Assam Startup –The Nest’ in prominent academic/technical institutions to encourage startups and innovators in different parts of the state, providing funding support of up to Rs 5 crore for the setting up of a Technology Business Incubator in each zonal innovation hub over a period of five years to encourage research activities, and providing each Institutional Innovation Cell with funding support of Rs 5 lakh per year gives a clear indication about the state government providing all kinds of support to nurture innovative startup ideas to become commercially successful and sustainable. One of the key objectives of the policy is to facilitate the growth of at least 5,000 new startups and create one lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities over the next five years. Along with incentives to support innovation, incubation and market linkage, creating a pool of skilled workers and professionals to meet the workforce requirement will be crucial for their commercial success. Achieving the goals of the new policy will be crucial in motivating educated youth to become contributors to the state economy by giving wings to their startup ideas rather than nurturing the ambition of becoming employees.