Budget will scale up startup ecosystem, social entrepreneurship: KSUM CEO

Rs 99.52 Cr for KSUM; three new schemes rolled out

Trivandrum / January 29, 2026

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan. 29: The State Budget for 2026-27, presented by Finance Minister Shri K N Balagopal in the Kerala Assembly today, will further accelerate and diversify Kerala’s startup ecosystem.

The budget allocated an amount of ₹99.52 crore for taking forward the ongoing projects of Kerala Start-up mission (KSUM) and roll out new initiatives.

The overall budget allocation for the IT sector has been enhanced to ₹548.05 crore from previous year’s ₹517.27 crore.

The Finance Minister, in his budget speech, mentioned the substantial growth recorded by Kerala’s startup ecosystem.

The number of startups, which was 800 in 2017-18 has gone up to 6477 in 2024-25. Employment generated by the ecosystem also grew steeply to 64,870 from 28,000 during this period. At the same time, investment increased to ₹6,983 crore from ₹280 crore, the Minister noted.

“The budget allocation for startup ecosystem in the state is a reflection of the government’s deep commitment to promote social entrepreneurship and the state’s transition into a knowledge economy,” KSUM CEO Shri Anoop Ambika said.

The budget unveiled three new scheme, putting the startup ecosystem on a growth track, which will encourage entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds and domains, he noted.

The additional allocation for the “Fund of Fund” scheme will make venture capital more accessible to the Start-ups. Apart from Rs 3 crore as the budget share, an additional share of Rs 10 crore has been set apart for this flagship programme of the Government of Kerala.

An amount of ₹4 crore has been allocated for KSUM’s “New Innings” project, which aims at roping in senior citizens as active partners in Start-up sector through various roles such as entrepreneurs, mentors and consultants.

The budget has set apart ₹2 crore for establishing a “Culture and Creativity Incubator” in Cochin. This facility will support entrepreneurs and Startups in culture and creativity sectors such as museums, festivals, visual arts, crafts, design AR/VR/XR and creative technologies.

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