Promote inter-state collaborations between startups: Kerala Scale-up Conclave-2024

Kochi / March 5, 2024

Kochi, Mar 5: The country must have a system that promotes inter-state collaborations between startups so as to boost the ecosystem, experts said at a milestone event organised by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC).

There should also be a body focused on timely disbursal of funds to nascent firms, they said at the ‘Kerala Scale-up Conclave-2024’, held as a governmental initiative to enable the state’s startups to enhance their operations.

Even so, companies should comply to the fullest with the rules and regulations to sustain their growth, the speakers noted at a panel discussion as part of the event inaugurated by Industries Minister Shri P. Rajeeve. The conclave, which concluded on Monday evening, was organised to gather views and formulate a vision regarding measures for improving the scale up environment in the State, providing better support to startups to scale up their businesses & facilitating the availing of incentive schemes announced in the new Industrial Policy of the State Government.

India has its startups tuned to go for international tie-ups, which is fine, but these should happen with simultaneous cooperation at the domestic level, according to Ms. Akshita Kanthala, Head, Government Innovation & CSR, Telangana at a session on ‘Suggestions & Strategies for strengthening the Kerala Start-up and Scale up Ecosystem’. The hour-long roundtable was moderated by Shri Ajayan Kavungal Anat, chairman of Calicut Innovation & Technology Initiative that organised the Kerala Technology Expo last week.

Shri. Singamala Sreedhar, Joint Director, Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society, while hailing Kerala’s ecosystem, particularly praised the state’s Genrobotics as a startup that displayed innovation in solving social issues through its most impactful ‘Bandicoot’, which is the world’s first robotic manhole cleaner and seeks to phase out manual scavenging;

Shri. Satya Narayan, Director Browndove Healthcare Pvt Ltd, Chennai, highlighted the need for building trust up the course of any startup. “When you go for a product, ensure there is market as well as margin for it. And do stick to the value system,” he added.

VARSYA founder Shri. Nitheesh Sundaresan said a flurry of developments in the startup ecosystem merits the formation of an “extended arm” beyond the executive committee for prompt availability of financial resources to companies in the cusp of growth. “The executive committee meets just once a month and that means a startup needs to wait for some 40 days to get its funding approved. We must speed up this process,” he said, expressing happiness that startups have expanded beyond IT to domains such as life sciences, climate change and manufacturing.

Shri. Navaz Meeran of Kerala Angel Network said startups should plunge into the market “without wasting too much of time” over arriving at the finer features of their products. “Corrections can be made down the course of marketing,” he pointed out. “The motto should be ‘sail fast’.”

Earlier, at a pre-lunch session, Industries & Norka Principal Secretary Shri Suman Billa gave a power-point presentation on Kerala – Opportunities Galore’.

There was also a session named ‘My Journey’ by top ten startup employers in the state, besides success-story presentations by five.

The Kerala Scaleup conclave, enabled emerging the companies to network with counterparts, besides policymakers and eco-system enablers, according to KSIDC Managing Director Shri S. Harikishore IAS, who is also Director, Industries and Commerce.

Kerala boasts of more than 5,000 start-ups spread across its 14 districts, traversing sectors including artificial intelligence, SaaS, health-tech, manufacturing and fintech. These start-ups have raised investments totaling around Rs 3,000 crore from various funding agencies. Many such nascent companies are on the cusp of scaling up.

ENDS