Thiruvananthapuram: Startup Village, purported to be the country's first technology business incubator in telecom, is preparing to take off in Kerala.
Also the first public-private partnership incubator, it will go on stream in Kochi in early April with a projected investment of Rs 100 crore.
At least 1,000 student startups are expected to set up base here, Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, announced in New Delhi.
National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) and Kerala Government-run Technopark are the promoters.
MobME Wireless, a student start-up and has grown to become one of the country's top-10 emerging companies, will be the private partner.
The project will seek to transform the State into a ‘Silicon Coast,' an official spokesman quoted Mr Chandy as saying.
Among those present with him were Dr Kiran Karnik, former president of Nasscom; Dr H. K. Mittal of the Department of Science and Technology; Mr Rajan Mathews, Director-General, Cellular Operators Association of India; Mr Abhishek Goyal, Chief Executive Officer, UrbanTouch.com; and Mr Sanjay Vijayakumar, Chairman of the Board of Governors, Startup Village.
First Steps
Technopark took its first steps into incubation when MobME Wireless, promoted by then engineering students, was launched in 2006.
The Technopark incubator quickly rose in six years to become one of the most prominent national technology incubators.
It also won the President's award for best technology business incubator in the country for 2008.
There are now 125 companies here employing 3,000 people and generating Rs 100 crore in annual revenue, Mr Chandy said.
Mr Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-Founder of Infosys, would be the Chief Mentor for the startups at the Village.
The telecom and information technology industry has extended support to this venture, the official spokesman said.
Among those likely to join as mentors or investors are: Dr Kiran Karnik; Mr Abhishek Goyal; Mr Sharad Sharma, former CEO, Yahoo India R& D; Mr Ganesh Lakshminarayan, Managing Director, Dell India; Mr K. K. Natarajan of Mindtree; Mr Arun Kumar, Global Board Member of KPMG; Dr Ravi Pillai, the biggest employer of Indians in West Asia ; and Mr K. Nanda Kumar, CEO and President, SunTec Business Solutions.
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