Bhubaneswar, Jan 19: SPORT IT 2020, India’s first sports and innovation festival organised by Xavier Emlyon Business School (XEBS) and Sports and Youth Services Department, Government of Odisha, came to a grand end with Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik exhorting start-ups and entrepreneurs to invest in sports sector of the State.

Addressing the Valedictory Ceremony at Kalinga Stadium, Naveen Patnaik said: “I appreciate the unique venture of the Xavier Emlyon Business School, Bhubaneswar and the Sports & Youth Services Department in hosting SPORT-IT 2020, India’s first ever sports and innovation festival here in Bhubaneswar. With SPORT IT 2020, we want to create an inclusive platform that would not only celebrate sports innovation and entrepreneurship; but also involve sportspersons, sports startups, high performance centres and students in a significant way. It will encourage the participants from the Sports fraternity to meet, exchange knowledge, and learn from one another.”

Welcoming sports entrepreneurs, investors and students from across India and foreign nations to Bhubaneswar, he said, it was a matter of happiness that Odisha has been conferred with Sports-Star Ace Award for the consecutive second year as the Best State for Sports Promotion in the entire country. This reflects the commitment of Odisha Government for development of sport. “I am sure the festival will enhance the outcome of our efforts to bring innovation to sports and promote a sporting culture among the youth,” the Chief Minister said.

The Odisha Government has also invited the startup entrepreneurs who participated in the event for an interaction for future association. On the occasion, the Chief Minister handed over the Best Startup Award to Funngage, a curated and integrated sports platform from Delhi, which received a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh as announced by emlyon business school, France.

Similarly, he also felicitated the team who won the Hackathon contest that included tennis player Chinmay Pradhan, para athlete Dileshwar Rao, Program Manager, Naval Tata Hockey Academy Debashis Nayak, basketball coach Rajesh Singh and Professor Sports Sovan Patnaik.

They would be flying to Lyon in September to attend the biggest sports innovation festival in Europe, Sports Unlimitech.

Over 1600 students including differently-abled and intellectually-challenged children also took part in the festival over two days and enjoyed the sports zones while also interacting with the entrepreneurs making SPORT IT 2020 a unique inclusive platform.