Kerala startup Founders Meet stirs up networking, collaboration

Kochi / July 6, 2023

Kochi, July 6: The 11th edition of the meet by Kerala’s startup founders brought together entrepreneurs, industry leaders and investors, facilitating resourceful sharing of knowledge, networking and collaboration aimed at invigorating the state’s ecosystem.

Close to 150 delegates participated at the Founders Meet held at Bangalore as an initiative of the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), engaging in talks and interactions meant to equip oneself to new-age challenges at various stages of growth of nascent companies.

KSUM Chief Executive Officer Anoop Ambika gave an overview on the nodal agency and its supportive role in the lifecycle of startups. Fintech startup OPEN Co-founder and CFO Deena Jacob spoke of funding preparations and managing startup finance while building it. The subsequent sessions gave Bengaluru-based Malayali startup founders an opportunity for prospective collaborations with KSUM.

The June 30 event in RGA Park saw software firm Tracxn’s founder Abhishek Goyal addressing the gathering on ‘Journey from a VC to Startup Entrepreneur’.

Further, three startups presented their product pitching at the meet, which also had a session titled Founder's Ask, inviting startups on a voluntary basis to pitch their product and ask for help from the founder community. This was followed by a networking session, which saw the delegates recommending for Bengaluru to be the venue for the next Founders Meet as well. The 11th edition was the first to be held outside Kerala.

“The idea was to create a successful startup, learn how to raise capital, scale, and progress through various stages,” pointed out the KSUM CEO. “We could give the delegates good awareness and guidance on these matters.”

Kochi-based KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.