Kerala to setup technology startup hub in Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 16 (KNN) The Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that the state government will set up a technology startup hub in the capital to further strengthen incubation infrastructure and support innovation programmes.

He was inaugurating the two-day ‘Huddle Global’, a start-up conclave organised by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) at The Leela Raviz, Kovalam.

Addressing the occasion, Vijayan said “the state has built the most vibrant startup ecosystem in the country that is comparable to the best anywhere in the world.”

The chief minister assured his government’s full support to startups which have a pivotal role to play in the state’s journey towards a knowledge economy.

Noting that the state offered the best opportunities for a wide array of enterprises for startups in various domains like IT, VT (Virtualization Technology), and food processing, the chief minister said a major initiative to connect tourism industry with startup ecosystem is in the offing.

“Kerala Government envisions having 15,000 startups and two lakh jobs. This financial year alone the state has witnessed creation of one lakh small and medium enterprises,” he said.

The state supports startups through Innovation Entrepreneurship Development Centres (IEDCs) and Youth Innovation Programme (YIP).

The chief minister pointed out that by bringing a wide range of global audiences together, Huddle Global has been able to introduce Kerala’s startup ecosystem to the world, setting it on a trajectory of accelerated growth.

On the occasion, the CM released the fifth Kerala Startup Ecosystem Report. He also presented the Pride of Kerala Award to Genrobotics, which developed the sewer- cleaning robot ‘Bandicoot’ to phase out manual scavenging.

More than 3,000 participants from India and abroad, seeking business, investment, and partnership opportunities, are attending the meet.  (KNN Bureau)