Kerala CM to inaugurate KSUM’s first Infinity Centre in Dubai
Kochi / June 17, 2023
Kochi, June 17:Chief Minister Shri Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the debut Infinity Centre of Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) in Dubai on Sunday, rolling out the government’s ambitious programme of setting up one-stop destinations across the world to strengthen the state’s ecosystem for nascent companies.
Chief Secretary Shri V.P. Joy will chair the ceremony at Taj, Burj Khalifa, marking the start of a series of such launch-pads for Kerala’s startups to explore foreign markets by enabling non-resident Indians to help become entrepreneurs in association with KSUM.
Others present at the 90-minute function starting at 5 pm (local time) will be Indian Ambassador to UAE Shri Sunjay Sudhir, IT & Electronics Secretary Dr Rathan U. Kelkar, KSUM Chief Executive Officer Shri Anoop Ambika, Consul General of India (Dubai) Dr Aman Puri, Lulu Group International CMD Shri M.A. Yusaf Ali, Aster DM HealthCare MD Shri Azad Moopen, IBS Executive Chairman Shri V.K. Mathews and Norka Roots Vice Chairman Shri P. Sreeramakrishnan.
The idea of Infinity Centres comes in the context of NRIs totalling 3.2 crore, topping India in the global list of hosting the largest number of migrant citizens. Adding about $78 billion in remittance to the Indian economy, they play a huge role in the development of India. Considering this, KSUM conceived the Startup Infinity as an initiative to help the NRI community set up business in Kerala and tap into their vast amount of resources to support nascent companies.
The Startup Infinity program aims to unite the NRI population and encourage them to launch their own businesses both abroad and in Kerala. This launch-pad will act as a global desk in select countries where the NRI community can engage, co-create and set up businesses — either in their resident country or in India. The Infinity Centres will support to register their company in their resident country or in Kerala.
KSUM, in its bid to institutionalize the success of these foreign delegations, plans to start the Infinity centres in locations across the world as a pilot. They will subsequently be expanded to other locations based on the lessons from the initial engagement. They aim to be a one-stop destination for NRIs to get themselves into the entrepreneurship bandwagon through various collaboration opportunities with Kerala-based startups and KSUM. These centers will also serve as launch-pads for Kerala startups keen to explore the foreign markets. Besides UAE, three countries being considered for setting up initial Startup Infinity Centers: USA, Australia and one in Europe.
These centers will be set up in association with a global partner who will be selected through a transparent process. The partner will be responsible for providing us with the necessary infrastructure and a 12-month engagement plan.
Authorities plan to set up the Startup Infinity centres in association with global partners who will be selected through official procedures. KSUM will soon publish on its website an open call for Expression of Interest. A KSUM expert committee will evaluate the applications, based on the scoring criteria that will take into account the expertise, knowledge and networks available with the applicants besides the quality and cost of the proposed facility.
The selected partner will have to then provide a commercial proposal along with an engagement plan that will also show the key performance indicators for a mutually-agreed contract period. KSUM will sign agreements with the selected entities to establish the Startup Infinity centres. While these agreements will not be for more than one year, KSUM will do a quarterly review of the centre and assess its performance. Renewals, if any, will be based on an annual evaluation by the expert committee.
Initiated with the objective of helping Kerala-based startups explore the overseas market, the Infinity Centres seek to make Kerala a key point of access for overseas startups to explore the Indian market. The idea is to establish an engagement and co-creation space, where founders from Kerala and the NRI community can come together to network, ideate and establish new ventures. The endeavour also aims to create NRI angel networks to support Kerala’s startup ecosystem and increase the quantum of funding and investment into IT projects in the state.
Under the Startup Infinity programme, KSUM will help register a company in Kerala, while also providing plug-and-play facilities in the host countries. It will extend incubation support during product development and scale-up stages. Further, it will invite participations in its investment initiatives and lend opportunity to network with Kerala-based angel syndicates and co-invest with venture capitalists that are part of its ‘Fund of Funds’ programme. It will also give access to KSUM’s meet-ups with investors, businesses and corporates; Demo days; Hackathons and innovation challenges.
KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.
