Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin announced the setting up of an INR 100 Cr Co-Creation Fund during his address at the inauguration ceremony of Tamil Nadu Global Startup Summit 2025 (TNGSS) in Coimbatore.
The Co-Creation Fund, which is a fund of funds (FoF), will be managed by StartupTN, the state government’s flagship startup mission.
The FoF will invest in the funds of VC firms that invest in startups based in Tamil Nadu.
“This initiative will lead to the creation of new venture capital firms in Tamil Nadu and help attract leading global investment firms to the state,” the chief minister said, calling the FoF a bridge between local talent and international capital.
During his speech, Stalin chronicled the rise in the state’s startup ecosystem and positioned the summit as a turning point in its development journey.
Inaugurating TNGSS 2025, the chief minister also shared that the state has been able to secure investments across a wide spectrum of sectors, including labour-intensive industries that generate large-scale employment and high-tech sectors.
Stalin also reaffirmed the government’s goal of nearly doubling Tamil Nadu’s economy by 2030. “Our government is diligently working towards achieving the goal of making Tamil Nadu a $1 Tn economy by the year 2030,” the chief minister said.
As part of the inauguration ceremony, the chief minister also released Inc42’s ‘The State Of Tamil Nadu Startup Ecosystem Report 2025’ which details the state’s rise into one of India’s most vibrant startup hubs.
“Inc42’s research report on Tamil Nadu’s startup ecosystem showcases the remarkable growth of the state from about 2,000 to over 12,000 startups in just four years. Tamil Nadu is transforming from a manufacturing powerhouse into a global innovation hub,” Stalin said.
The state government also signed eight MoUs with AsiaBerlin Forum (Germany), Blue Ocean Strategy Institute (Malaysia), Unicorn South Korea, and Santa Clara University (United States), among others, at the inauguration ceremony of TNGSS 2025.
These MoUs will open access to global networks, research expertise, and investor ecosystems, helping Tamil Nadu’s startups scale internationally, attract foreign capital, and exchange knowledge with innovation ecosystems across Europe, the US, and Asia.
Startup Leaders From 40+ Countries Flock To Coimbatore
On the opening day of TNGSS 2025, Coimbatore hosted over 300 startup leaders, enablers, and innovators from more than 40 countries, along with thousands of participants who gathered to be part of the state’s largest startup conclave.
Following the inauguration ceremony, the summit hosted a series of engaging sessions with a sharp focus on AI. Unnikrishnan AR, head of developer relations for South Asia at NVIDIA, spoke about the evolution of AI from perception AI to generative AI and now to agentic AI. He also briefed the innovators about NVIDIA’s global initiatives for startups, including providing access to high-end computational infrastructure and a worldwide network of investors.
Following him, Praval Singh, vice president of marketing and customer experience at Zoho, discussed the growing role of AI in business operations and explained how Zoho has integrated AI across its product suite. He detailed the company’s in-house AI platform Zia, which delivers contextual intelligence, automates workflows, and improves operational efficiency for businesses.
Ankush Aggarwal, head of strategy at Ola Electric, said that AI in mobility is “not a luxury but a necessity in a country like India”. He talked about Tamil Nadu’s leadership in EV manufacturing and the startup push from the government, which are “going to play a crucial role in achieving energy independence”.
“The future of mobility in India is about more than just technology, it’s about access. It’s millions of first-time users from smaller towns coming online, EVs replacing ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles, and AI preventing traffic jams before they happen,” said Aggarwal.
Other notable speakers on the ‘Disruptors Stage’ included Arzan Singpurwalla, partnerships leader at Meta; Prakash Sangam, CEO of RedBus; Shashank Sinha, CEO of Drools; and Didier Anna L Vanderhasselt, Belgium’s ambassador to India.
With a gross state domestic product (GSDP) of over $369 Bn in FY25, Tamil Nadu ranks as India’s second-largest state economy. The state recorded real GSDP growth of 11.19% in FY25, the highest in the country.
Often referred to as India’s manufacturing backbone, Tamil Nadu leads in the number of operational factories and accounts for around 40% of the country’s smartphone exports. With StartupTN, the state is now also focussing on becoming an innovation-led economy.
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