To boost the growth of start-ups in Kerala, the state will formulate a proposal and submit it to the central government to get funds from the Rs. 10,000 crore corpus allocated in the Union Budget to support startups, said P H Kurian, Kerala Industries and IT Secretary. An official of the Industries and IT Department said this while participating in a discussion on ‘How the budget allocation can be utilised for fuelling the growth of the start-up ecosystem in Kerala’ at the Start-up Village in Kochi. The Government has started discussions in this regard and a comprehensive plan will be drafted to get sufficient funds from the Centre to fuel the growth of the start-up ecosystem in the State. For the young entrepreneurs in the State, the government will soon provide 100 start-up boxes. “The new building coming up in Start-up Village, with a built up space of two lakh sqft, will be completed soon and it will have around 1,000 young entrepreneurs working from it,” he added. Infosys Co-founder and Start-up Village Chief Mentor Kris Gopalakrishnan said the Start-up Village at Kalamassery was a unique model in the world and it provided the right ambience for youngsters to grow which was not the case some decades ago. He continued that today there is technology and government to help the youngsters to start a business and they need to put their imagination to make the business successful.
Extending all support to Start-up Village, Choice Group Founder Jose Thomas said that the incubator had evolved as a role model for other states to follow. “Kerala is now on the right path as far as entrepreneurship development is concerned,” Mr Jose Thomas said. Impressed by the performance of the country’s first PPP model incubator, he has granted Rs. 25 lakh to Start-up Village. He handed the cheque for the amount to Start-up Village Chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar on the occasion. Hibi Eden MLA said that the mindset among the youngsters and the community as a whole has changed in Kerala and the government wants to see more youngsters coming in with novel ideas. Bringing in his two decades of experience from Silicon Valley, Envestnet Group President BabuSivadasan said, “For a venture to be successful, startups must focus on products, employees and clients and not just money.” He also lauded Startup Village for its vibrant environment and the opportunities it was providing to youngsters and for bridging the gap between Silicon Valley and Kerala.
