Access to finance ‘biggest pain point’ for Naga entrepreneurs: Hekani Jakhalu

Hekani Jakhalu, Nuneseno Chase, along with the selected entrepreneurs at YouthNet Dimapur Office on September 2.

Hekani Jakhalu, Nuneseno Chase, along with the selected entrepreneurs at YouthNet Dimapur Office on September 2.

Dimapur, September 2 (MExN): Chair and Founder of YouthNet Hekani Jakhalu on September 2, funded seven selected entrepreneurs with Rs 7 lakh to facilitate business expansion and support in improving access to finance.

According to a press release, Jakhalu while addressing the entrepreneurs at the YouthNet Dimapur Office, stated that ‘the biggest pain point for budding entrepreneurs in Nagaland is access to funding, which is the lifeblood of any business and at any business event the conversation will always turn to access to capital.’ Realizing this, YouthNet with the support of the Department of Industries and Commerce under the Nagaland Startup Policy 2019 have pursued variety of strategies from grants to investment funds to special GST reimbursement and digital upgradation are arranged for serious and promising entrepreneurs, she said. 

In this connection, the release stated that the YouthNet Incubation Centre, which is Nagaland state first business Incubator held a special session on ‘Thinking Outside the Box’ with Serial Entrepreneur Aku Zeliang who taught entrepreneurs on how to work on getting the basic fundamentals right, as well as structuring the business accordingly.

He also shared the fundamentals on how to access markets in the USA, Europe, Middle East & ASEAN, through his experience. 

Earlier the welcome address was shared by Nuneseno Chase, Director, YouthNet who shared on the benefits of being part of an Incubator, such as the facilities, funding and networking opportunities. The programme was chaired by Neikepekho Shosahie while sharing on the entrepreneur’s journey was done by Lipoksasong Longkumer, proprietor of Grandpa's Pickle Co. 

The release stated that YouthNet Incubation Centre is supported by the Department of Industries & Commerce under the Nagaland Start-Up Policy 2019. It is a Centre which intends to support and nurture innovative start-ups in their pursuit to become scalable and sustainable business enterprise being budding entrepreneurs in certain sectors from handloom & handicrafts, food processing, education to tourism, it added.