State working on master plan for billion-dollar startup campus

The State government is working on a master plan to create a billion-dollar campus for startups in the near future, according to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

He said this while giving away ‘startup boxes’ to 50 young mobile application developers as part of the Youth Entrepreneurs Scheme (YES) 2015, of which the Kerala Startup Mission is the implementing agency.

The ‘Startup Boxes Project’ is designed to distribute kits to suit various technology and industry verticals. The boxes carry gadgets ranging from a MacBook, iPhone, Google Nexus, Amazone Kindle and the Arduino starter kit that help mobile application developers to get started.

“Those who have been supplied with the startup boxes should aim to become the best performers among the crowd over the next one-year period,” Chandy said.

The beneficiaries for the Startup Boxes project were selected through the FinTech accelerator programme developed by Startup Village, Kochi, and Federal Bank to develop banking technologies.

A vibrant business environment created by the young generation entrepreneurs and experienced non-residents can transform Kerala to a developed state by 2030, the Chief Minister said.

At an earlier function, PK Kunhalikutty, Minister for Industries and IT, inaugurated a contest for startup ideas. “We will promote all pragmatic ideas and the larger theme is ‘Yes We Can’ in the context of YES-2015 summit,” he said. The Chief Minister released the logo for the YES-2015 event at the function.

Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson launched the newly designed web portal for the Kerala Startup Mission, the nodal agency for several schemes and programmes for young enterprises in the State.

The new website will act as a single online platform that connects students-entrepreneurs, mentors, professionals and investors across the world.

It will also act as a gateway to numerous initiatives for schools, colleges and start-up companies.

Among those present were PH Kurian, Secretary, IT and Industries; Sanjay Vijayakumar, Chairman, Startup Village, Kochi; and Jayashankar Prasad, CEO, Startup Mission.