Kerala’s startup ecosystem needs to tap alternative funds to realise full potential: Top Venture Funder

Trivandrum / December 13, 2025

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec. 13: Kerala’s highly promising startup ecosystem now needs to focus a little more on getting more funds to realise its immense potential to emerge as a global innovation hub, according to Shri Vikram Gupta, Founder and Managing Partner, IvyCap Ventures.

Shri Gupta was delivering the leadership talk at India’s largest startup festival Huddle Global 2025 on “Kerala’s Moment from Talent to Scale”.

Noting that startup ecosystems across the world have flourished as ‘global hubs’, Shri Gupta said Kerala has all the potential to emerge once such startup hotspot since its fundamentals are strong, and with present focus on deeptech and emerging tech.

Kerala has made a big surge of 147 per cent in ecosystem value with strong talent and supportive infrastructure, he said at the event organised by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM).

What its startup ecosystem now urgently needs is more acceleration funding, for which Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) model could be tapped.

Having a wide diaspora base, the state is also well-positioned to explore the endowment model for scaling up its ecosystem, Shri Gupta noted.

Kerala could think of creating a professional endowment driven by diaspora, which could build a long-term corpus for funding startups, he said.

The ecosystem should also focus on aligning capital and talent, building targeted path for deeptech and agri-food, besides enhancing investors and corporate partnership, he said.

By 2033 India’s VC Funding is projected to be to USD 45 bn, driven primarily by tech sector. The emerging trends in funding include growth of AI Funds, growth of domestic capital, consolidation of VC Funds and improved exit environment, he said.

Meanwhile, panellists at a discussion on “Capital with conviction: Rethinking India’s funding DNA through patient capital” said Indian startup ecosystem has reached a phase where venture funding needs to go beyond their traditional metrics in evaluating the enterprises for which they provide funds.

Shri Ranjith Menon, Partner, Blume Ventures, Anjali Sosale, Investor Waterbridge Ventures and Kunal Khattar, Managing Partner, Advantedge, participated in the discussion.

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