This Thread is to discuss about Startup Village (http://www.startupvillage.in/) and its startup ventures, which is India's first Telecom Incubator Hub, meant to create a Silicon Coast in next 10 years, with more than 1000 a billion dollar worth companies, by grooming entrepreneurs and encouraging telecom oriented technology start ups.

The facility is located in KINFRA Hitech Park; Kalamassery; Kochi

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News about Start Up Village

The innovative zone and training centre at the first Startup Village which is to be opened from mid April, will provide a platform to students to exploit their ideas and skills in the telecom sector.

With `100 crore, the Startup Village has chalked out a roadmap to incubate and develop 1000 student startups over the next 10 years.

A three-member team lead by Startup Village CEO Sijo George will moderate the students programme.

“We’re employing peerlearning and are organising sessions. However, it’s more of self-learning,” said Sijo.

The team will also encourage students take up MIT and Stanford online classes and get certificates.

An outreach campaign to connect with vibrant students has been planned by signing up with all the engineering colleges in the state. Around 50 students can be accommodated at a time and it does not have a time schedule. A laboratory will be set up where students can develop technology and start applications in cutting-edge technology.

Multiple handsets will be provided and machines will be purchased with the fund from the Department of Science and Technology, he said.

Sony Joy, CEO of MobMe, the private partner of the Startup said, “We are planning to organise programmes in all the engineering colleges in the state to create awareness on incubators and ecosystem.” “We have established ourselves after starting as a startup when incubators were just coming up.
When we were in the third year at College of Engineering, we approached Technopark and were the first group to get the incubator facility. Unlike the past, parents are not averse to entrepreneurship,” he said.
When a group of students want to develop their idea into a product and market it, Startup offers them all the support, he added.

While there are more than 6000 startup in US and China, India has only about 60, he said.

CNN IBN (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/an-innovative-zone-for-skills-and-ideas/245958-60-122.html)

Startup Village is India’s first public-private partnership startup incubator for the telecom industry. The incubator has a corpus of Rs. 100 crores (US$ 19.616 million) and plans to invest in 1,000 student startups over 10 years. To emphasize, Startup Village is for student startups only. The incubator is based out of India’s southern state of Kerala and has some marquee names as mentors like Sunil Kalra, Rajan Anandan and Alok Bajpai.

Startup Village constituents include the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the government of India, Technopark and MobME Wireless.

Not Just Money

Startup Village is not just about the Rs. 100 crore corpus. In fact, that is the least important aspect. The student startups will be exposed to the latest and greatest telecom gear in the advanced labs. The whole campus is 4G enabled. Most importantly chief-mentor Kris Gopalakrishnan from Infosys will add immense value to the the program for student entrepreneurs. Other people involved have the connections to bring in investments, as necessary.

Companies incubated in the village will get a 3-year tax exemption for revenues up to Rs. 50 lakh (US$ 5 million). Mobme, a successful student startup, will provide the technical support.

Other perks include legal services, accounting services, intellectual property services, computers, phone lines, video conferencing rooms, huge discounts on server space, office space, and virtual office services.

Startup Village should take some heat away from the eCommerce space and put the heat back where it belongs: Telecom (apps and more).

One Question, Though

Startup Village wants to find the next billion dollar company. My question: Are billion dollar companies found through incubators? Or do they just happen, and investors will be lucky to stumble on them? I believe the latter is true. What do you think?

I have the same question for innovation too. Can it be carefully engineered?

Techwireasia (http://www.techwireasia.com/2559/telecom-incubator-startup-village-to-mentor-fund-student-technopreneurs-in-india/)

Startup Village, purported to be the country's first technology business incubator in telecom, is preparing to take off in Kerala.

Also the first public-private partnership incubator, it will go on stream in Kochi in early April with a projected investment of Rs 100 crore.

At least 1,000 student startups are expected to set up base here, Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, announced in New Delhi.

National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) and Kerala Government-run Technopark are the promoters.

MobME Wireless, a student start-up and has grown to become one of the country's top-10 emerging companies, will be the private partner.

The project will seek to transform the State into a ‘Silicon Coast,' an official spokesman quoted Mr Chandy as saying.

Among those present with him were Dr Kiran Karnik, former president of Nasscom; Dr H. K. Mittal of the Department of Science and Technology; Mr Rajan Mathews, Director-General, Cellular Operators Association of India; Mr Abhishek Goyal, Chief Executive Officer, UrbanTouch.com; and Mr Sanjay Vijayakumar, Chairman of the Board of Governors, Startup Village.

FIRST STEPS

Technopark took its first steps into incubation when MobME Wireless, promoted by then engineering students, was launched in 2006.

The Technopark incubator quickly rose in six years to become one of the most prominent national technology incubators.

It also won the President's award for best technology business incubator in the country for 2008.

There are now 125 companies here employing 3,000 people and generating Rs 100 crore in annual revenue, Mr Chandy said.

Mr Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-Founder of Infosys, would be the Chief Mentor for the startups at the Village.

The telecom and information technology industry has extended support to this venture, the official spokesman said.

Among those likely to join as mentors or investors are: Dr Kiran Karnik; Mr Abhishek Goyal; Mr Sharad Sharma, former CEO, Yahoo India R& D; Mr Ganesh Lakshminarayan, Managing Director, Dell India; Mr K. K. Natarajan of Mindtree; Mr Arun Kumar, Global Board Member of KPMG; Dr Ravi Pillai, the biggest employer of Indians in West Asia ; and Mr K. Nanda Kumar, CEO and President, SunTec Business Solutions.

The Hindu Businessline (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/info-tech/article3254577.ece?ref=wl_industry-and-economy)

Startup Village Inaugurated


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Kris Gopalakrishnan, Infosys Co-founder, planting a spaling at the Startup Village campus at Kinfra Park, Kalamassery, on Sunday

Startup Village, India's first telecom business incubator under public-private partnership, will be a turning point in Kerala's development, Infosys co-founder and chief mentor of the venture Kris Gopalakrishnan has said.

Inaugurating the incubator — which envisions setting up at least 1,000 student startups — at Kinfra Park, Kalamassery, on Sunday, Mr. Gopalakrishnan termed the endeavour as a landmark in the State's growth.

“The change taking place in the State has not been understood by many. Technopark's stupendous success has not brought about a change in people's perception. Startup projects need a conducive ecosystem to flourish. Besides enhancing budding entrepreneurs' confidence and potential for success, it also helps fashion ideas,” he said.

“Lack of adequate finance impedes entrepreneurship, but Startup helps budding entrepreneurs tide over that,” Mr. Gopalakrishnan said.

Later, he planted a sapling on the village campus, the first of 1,000 saplings being planted there.

IT Secretary P.H. Kurian extended all support to the project and said there would be no roadblocks from the government's side for launching projects.

“Presently, the State has an atmosphere conducive for accelerated growth,” he said.

KSIDC managing director Alkesh Sarma said that Kerala had not lost even a single working day last year.

“However, people outside do not understand this. ‘Emerging Kerala' would be organised in the State next year in view of the change in the State's investment scene,” he pointed out.

Cusat Vice-Chancellor Ramachandran Thekkedath; entrepreneur Ravi Pillai; scientist B.K. Shukla of the Union Department of Science and Technology; TiE Kerala president John Paul; and Startup Village governing council chairman Sanjay Vijaykumar spoke.

The village envisages leveraging the impending explosive growth in smart phones and 4G to incubate the next 1,000 startups in India.

The scheme aims to transform job seekers into job creators.

It was set up collaboratively by the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) under the Department of Science and Technology and the Kerala government-run Technopark, in association with MobME Wireless – a private firm which began as a student start-up and has grown to become one of India's top 10 emerging companies.

The Hindu (http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/article3319894.ece)

ueGZfRDusVg

z9ixXlzBhiY

The start up Village campus at Hitech Park

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Inauguration Pics

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^^

Great thread MI :)

Startup Village boosts up new dreams for Emerging Kerala (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-16/kochi/31349113_1_kris-gopalakrishnan-technology-startups-ventures)

Startup Village, a technology business incubator formed through a public-private partnership to promote technology startups, will rope in investments of Rs 100 crore and nurture 1,000 startups in the next ten years, said Sanjay Vijayakumar, CEO of wireless solutions startup MobMe Wireless Solutions, on Sunday.

Infosys Technologies co-chairman Kris Gopalakrishnan, who will serve as chief mentor, launched the Startup Village at the Kinfra Hi-Tech Park in Kalamassery near Kochi on Sunday. It will primarily serve as a telecom innovation hub. Sanjeev Vijayakumar is the chairman of the board of governors of the Startup Village.

Built on 15,000 sq ft of space, Startup Village is jointly promoted by the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), the Department of Science and Technology, government of India, and Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram, besides MobMe Wireless and other private parties.

Kris Gopalakrishnan said the Startup Village is an indicator of the state's transformation into an industrial powerhouse. "Kerala's Technopark is probably one of the most successful tech parks in the country, but nobody really talks about it," Gopalakrishnan said.

He said the state has slowly been putting in place all the ingredients to build a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem. "The four key ingredients: innovation, education, research and entrepreneurship to create a good business development ecosystem are now falling in place. This will help to change popular misconceptions about Kerala as a business-unfriendly state," Gopalakrishnan said.

It has been confirmed that when the right people come together, the possibility of success improves dramatically. "Startup Village is an attempt to bring the right people together in the process of incubating companies with great ideas," Gopalakrishnan said.

Cusat vice-chancellor Ramachandran Thekkedath suggested that the Startup Village must also look at the possibility of incubating entrepreneurial ventures and ideas from older and retired professionals as well who are no less creative than their younger counterparts.

The village will have a 4G network, advanced telecom labs and provide all services including legal, intellectual property and accounting help.

A three-month residential accelerator programme to support entrepreneurs in developing their ideas into products has been initiated. Every company in the programme will receive $10,000 in seed capital along with introductions to network partners, venture capital firms and angel investors, Vijayakumar said.

A $10-million angel investment fund is also being set up under the guidance of KPMG to invest $50,000-$500,000 in high-growth startups.

^^

Great thread MI :)

We need a dedicated thread, because it should not be mixed up with Infopark. The scope and even locations are different.

Secondly in days to come, we are likely to hear more stories... I pray for more positive stories, as seeds are sown now......... Perhaps who knows, one of this might be Infosys or Wipro etc....

Best of luck for the incubatees!!!:banana::cheers:

have they created any website for the startup village ? anybody know where to find more information about the startup village ?

have they created any website for the startup village ? anybody know where to find more information about the startup village ?

MI has already provided it at the top.

www.startupvillage.in (http://www.startupvillage.in/)

MI has already provided it at the top.

www.startupvillage.in (http://www.startupvillage.in/)

Had missed that , thanks malayaali ....

Idea whose time is wow (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/tabloid/kochi/idea-whose-time-wow-428)
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/article_horizontal/article-images/N_0.jpg.crop_display.jpg
Sanjay (second from left) with his core team.

For the newly-launched Startup Village at the KINFRA Park in Kochi, the first public-private telecom incubator in the country, its 26-year-old chairman is a walking advertisement.

Sanjay Vijayakumar, who bunked classes while studying in the Engineering College, Thiruvananthapuram, in order to launch his own mobile solutions company, is now calling college students to emulate his example, though not necessarily by skipping classes.

The CEO of MobME Wireless promises to extend all help to anybody with a bright idea including money and moral support.

It’s almost as though the man who achieved a market capitalisation of Rs 100 crore for the first student initiative to be incubated in Thiruvananthapuram’s Technopark is cocking a snook at naysayers in a State famous for having missed the bus of industrialisation because of its business-unfriendly attitude.

MobMe will join hands with the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) and Technopark to run the village with Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan as the chief mentor.

“Our country is getting increasingly young. It is the 20-24 age group that can think out of the box. You can’t predict which idea will succeed but we need to create an eco-system where ideas can flourish,” he says and goes on to explain how it is an idea whose time is now.

Smartphones have taken over our lives and Kerala not only boasts of high literacy but also high tele-density. The target is ambitious: 1,000 college startups in 10 years.

Why does he think college students can be the drivers of the revolution that he dreams about? “If you look at the software revolution of the 70s, Dell, HP, Microsoft and Apple were all college start-ups. In the 90s, you had Google and Yahoo and then came Facebook and Angry Birds.

All were founded by students and that’s why an academic link-up is vital for industry,” he says. A policy change is on the anvil; the same incentives given to those students who pursue sports will be extended to student entrepreneurs.

“If a college student starts a company, which gets incubated, he will be eligible for 20 per cent attendance and four per cent marks,” says Sanjay.

In the race to reach the top of the pyramid, he says, becoming an IT/telecom entrepreneur could well be the new vehicle for Keralites, who have been riding the Gulf dream and the IT job dream so far.

Among the first companies to be incubated in the Startup Village are Wowmakers, a design studio, and Mind Helix, a mobile applications company.

“We have about 28 applications in the last eight days,” says Sanjay.

“You can go on waiting for investment to come in from outside but it is never going to happen.”
Creating wealth may be an art but how does someone as young as him spend it?

“When we started out as entrepreneurs and money started pouring in, we splurged and had a lot of fun but then the craze waned.

Now, I interact with people like Kris Gopalakrishnan who have generated a lot of wealth but lead simple lives.

What we do now is to give scholarships to college cowboys who are different and young sportsmen who are needy,” he says.

His company has a fleet of sedans but he is happy to own just a couple of Santros.

If the dashing bachelor has one complaint about Kerala – which he thinks has enough potential to be the next Silicon coast – it is that youngsters have few opportunities for entertainment. But he makes up for it when he travels abroad. “We really party hard,” he chuckles.

The 2 Startups :)

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Startup Village to conduct workshop on Intellectual Property Rights (http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/kochi/4874-startup-village-to-conduct-workshop-on-intellectual-property-rights)
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Startup Village, India’s first telecom incubator, and Inolyst, a leading intellectual property consulting company, will be organising a one-day awareness workshop on Intellectual Property Strategies for Start-ups in association with Nasscom, Kinfra and TiE on May 05, 2012 at their premises in the Kinfra Hi-Tech Park in Kochi. The event will be open to both incubate companies, companies which have applied for incubation and entrepreneurs who wish to associate with Startup Village.

This workshop is intended to provide a clear picture for technology-driven start-up companies on business expertise necessary to manage their Intellectual Property assets as business assets. The workshop will also advise the participants on protecting and creating new intellectual property assets and on how to manage and monetize their existing intellectual property assets.

Sijo Kuruvilla George, CEO, Startup Village said, “A carefully crafted IP strategy, coupled with the informed use of IP rights, is pivotal to organisations of all sizes. Entrepreneurs should make decisions early on about what is vital in terms of intellectual property and take concrete steps to assert ownership, create proof of ownership and retain ownership. This would benefit the start-ups in acquiring customers and also in getting better terms and valuations from venture capitals”.

Inolyst, a rapidly growing Intellectual Property consulting firm in India, is the IP partner of Startup Village. The company will offer its IP expertise to Startup Village through trainings and workshops for the incubated start-ups and helping them build strong strategic IP portfolios.

Dilip Kumar, Founder, Inolyst said, "We are really excited to be a part of Startup Village which is on the lines of our vision towards building a strong ecosystem for innovative start-ups and thus increasing the global entrepreneurial class.”

Startup Village is India's first Public Private Partnership model Technology Business Incubator. The promoters of Startup Village are Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India; Technopark Trivandrum and MobME Wireless.

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Canadian Government to partner with Startup Village

Kochi: In a cross-border collaboration that would give a major boost to Startup Village, the Canadian Government has expressed keenness to forge partnerships with India’s first public private partnership model technology business incubator, for mutual benefits. A visiting Canadian Government delegation, comprising Ms. Sara Wilshaw, Minister (Commercial) and Ms. Ivy Lerner-Frank, First Secretary, Education, Science & Technology, was highly impressed by the technologically updated infrastructure at the Startup Village.

The representatives also appreciated the fact that Startup Village was being mentored by Kris Gopalakrishnan, who ranks among India’s most successful entrepreneurs. Also, Annie Mathews, Head - Developer Relations of RIM, a Canadian company, is among the Advisory Council of Startup Village.

Sanjay Vijayakumar, Chairman, Startup Village, said, “This marks the start of a long journey where we are working hard to help incubate technology product start-ups in our country. With the partnership with Government of Canada, we would be able to bring high quality technology that can be leveraged by start-ups to build products that are globally scalable. The exposure to technology for Indian start-ups in partnership with global companies like RIM from Canada would get a big boost with Ms. Wilshaw's visit to Startup Village.”

The Canadian Government already works with venture capital community and incubators such as Grow Labs at Vancouver and Extreme Startups at Ontario, Canada.

Sijo Kuruvilla, CEO, Startup Village was also present during the discussions with the Canadian representatives.

Canadian Government to partner with Startup Village
^^^^^^^^^^
Link (http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/kochi/4890-canadian-government-to-partner-with-startup-village)

Really good to hear, with lot of positive buzz..... I expect, someday, we may get a future Infosys or Wipro, from this facility, keeping the name of Kochi to new level heights.....

KloudPad looking at the Start-up Village for their R & D centre (http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/thiruvananthapuram/4940-kloudpad-3g-tab-makes-its-international-debut-in-trivandrum)
KloudPad, an Android 4 capacitive tablet with built-in 3G phone, was launched by Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy in Trivandrum on May 21, 2012. A product of the UK based KloudPad, the tablet will be available through the online tech store, slatestore.in. The company is a start-up by Abbishek Jayaraj Shikky and his brother, Aromal, from Kochi whose roots are in Thiruvananthapuram. One of the reasons why the tablet had its international launch here!

According to Abbishek, Founder, KloudPad, “KloudPad is India's first Android 4 capacitive tablet with built-in 3G for Rs. 9,999/-. 3G is for the masses not a privileged few and KloudPad comes bundled with content relevant to India. This combination makes this tab different from others. For example, we want the students to move from a laptop to this tablet which comes preloaded with CBSE & ICSE course content.”

KloudPad runs on a Cortex-A8 1.2GHz processor and has a 7" capacitive display (800 x 480), Android 4.0, 512 MB RAM, WiFi & 3G, dual cameras and HDMI & USB ports. It has 4GB internal memory extendable up to 32 GB (Micro SD). KloudPad has tied up with Attano for educational course content; Medical & Engineering sample test papers, etc. The tab also comes preloaded with Attano eBook App and Edu TV.

Aromal Jayaraj Shikky, Director, KloudPad UK, “Kloudpad is now targeted at students as an educational tab. Because of the cost, the value for money they will get is great. We will be soon coming out with customised solutions for the medical, legal and hospitality sectors.”

KloudPad was started by the brothers in 2010 in Canterbury, England and was incubated by the Kent Chamber of Commerce. They also got research grants from Innovate UK. With inputs from the Engineering Department of University of Greenwich, the company launched its first product, Kloudpad Bolt, in 2011. The company is now looking at the Start-up Village in Kochi to start their R & D centre to research on enhancing the recharge cycles.

KloudPad has a local tie-up for service and support and has already presence in Kochi and Kozhikode. The Thiruvananthapuram centre will be launched next month.

Workshop on open BTS
Date: 26th May 2012
Time: 2pm - 5pm

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Open Coffee Kerala June 2012
“Share, Network and Grow” – that’s a relaxing way of building your business. This month’s Open Coffee Kerala will be held at The Woods Manor, Kochi on June 6th from 6 to 9pm.

Talk by Sijo Kuruvilla George (CEO of Startup Village ) on “Startup Village” and “The MobME Story” – by Sanjay Vijayakumar (CEO & Co-Founder of MobME ) will be the main highlights this time.

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Open Coffee is an informal meeting where everyone who is “online” can meet offline to discuss ideas, do brainstorming and getting new business contacts. Meet people, find out what’s going on nearby you and then go and take part. It is started to encourage entrepreneurs, developers and investors to organize real-world informal meetups to chat, network and grow.

Location : The Woods Manor, M.G.Road, Ernakulam

The event is free and allows only 50 registrations. Check facebook event page (https://www.facebook.com/events/373298966060922/)for registration related info or Contact 9947777147 .

Biggest news for Startup Village till date!

BlackBerry makers to set up innovation zone in Kochi (http://zeenews.india.com/news/technology/blackberry-makers-to-set-up-innovation-zone-in-kochi_778615.html) :banana:
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The manufacturers of BlackBerry, Research in Motion (RIM) (http://www.rim.com/), will Thursday open an innovation zone for BlackBerry technologies with a view to motivating young Indian entrepreneurs.

'Rubus Labs' will be opened at Startup Village here in the presence of senior officials of BlackBerry, including its global vice-president Alec Saunders and India managing director Sunil Dutt.

It is for the first time that RIM is setting up such an innovation zone in the Asia-Pacific region and Kerala has been selected to be part of this momentous collaboration that would ignite the imagination of students, potential entrepreneurs and tech-savvy people.

Sijo Kuruvilla George, CEO of Startup Village, said the village would be the powerhouse of the future telecom technology revolution in the country by incubating over 1,000 startups over the next decade and transform Kerala into 'Silicon Coast'.

"RIM, the global game-changer in the mobile industry, will give pre-launch access to its latest devices and operating systems, apart from technological assistance. Rubus Labs will host regular activities like BlackBerry Hackathons and Bar Camps, besides training sessions for student entrepreneurs. The lab will also be open to school students to expose them to innovative technologies," said George.

As an alliance partner, Startup Village would get stock devices of the BlackBerry family, including handsets and playbooks, from RIM. The partnership will also facilitate Startup Village to work with BlackBerry partner funds to co-invest in the startup firms.

Startup Village was set up jointly by the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) under the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the central government and the Kerala government-run Technopark, in collaboration with MobME Wireless.

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Excellent news indeed..:banana:

Rubus - Blackberry Innovation Zone in Kochi

First Innovation center of Blackberry in the Asia-Pacific region.

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cc: Mathrubhumi

RIM Zone at startup Village to be opened today (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/rim-zone-at-startup-village-to-be-opened-today/263188-60-122.html)
Startup Village, the country’s first telecom incubator at KINFRA Hi-Tech Park, Kalamassery, is entering into a tie-up with Research in Motion (RIM), the manufacturers of BlackBerry. RIM is setting up an innovation zone, Rubus Labs, to introduce BlackBerry technologies and innovations to young entrepreneurs.

The zone will be formally opened at the Startup Village on Thursday in the presence of senior officials of BlackBerry, including its global vice-president Alec Saunders and India managing director Sunil Dutt.RIM is setting up such an innovation zone in the Asia-Pacific region for the first time and Kerala has been selected to be part of the collaboration.

RIM, the global game-changer in the mobile industry, will give pre-launch access to its latest devices and operating systems, apart from technological assistance. Rubus Labs will host regular activities like BlackBerry Hackathons and Bar Camps, besides conducting training sessions for student entrepreneurs. The lab will also be open to school students.

As an alliance partner, Startup Village will get stock devices of the BlackBerry family, including handsets and playbooks, from RIM. The partnership will also facilitate Startup Village to work with BlackBerry partner funds to co-invest in the startup firms.

All the medias reported this news.

BlackBerry's first Innovation Zone in Asia Pacific in Kerala (http://zeenews.india.com/business/news/technology/blackberrys-first-innovation-zone-in-asia-pacific-in-kerala_48715.html)
Kochi: Smartphone maker Research In Motion (RIM) on Thursday announced setting up of Blackberry's Innovation Zone -- the first in the Asia Pacific region -- here in Kerala.

RIM would set up two innovation zones in India this year, including the one at Kochi, RIM Vice President Developer Relations and Ecosystems Development Alec Saunders told reporters here.

The location of the second innovation zone is yet to be finalised, he said.

Located at Rubus Labs in the Startup Village, the innovation zone will showcase latest technologies from BlackBerry to inspire future entrepreneurs, he said.

On investment, RIM India Managing Director Sunil Dutt said it is ongoing and at this point, RIM's participation is in terms of innovative technology and devices.

When it was pointed out that Kerala was known as the land of 'hartals', Dutt said the state was also known for its literacy and entrepreneurship.

Harkesh Mittal, Union Secretary, Technology Development Board, Department of Science and Technology and Head of Union Government's Incubation programme, said lots of innovations are happening in the country and Kerala is leading them. A large number of proposals come from individual innovators in Kerala, he said.

The labs would host regular developer activities such as 'BlackBerry Hackathons and 'Bar Camps'.

Training sessions would be conducted across the 126 Engineering colleges in Kerala under the BlackBerry BASE (BlackBerry Apps by Student Entrepreneurs) programme by leveraging the campus outreach network of Startup Village, Sanjay Vijaykumar, Chairman (Board of Governors), Startup Village, said.

The objective of the partnership is to motivate young minds by giving access to RIM's mobile technology and imparting experiences and training from Blackberry experts.

Rubus Labs will also serve as experiential zone for school children to introduce them to the world of smartphones and experience the limitless possibilities of mobile technology, Sijo Kuruvilla George, CEO Startup village said.

The Startup village is being projected by both DST and the state government as the largest national attempt to scale up innovation in India through incubators in collaboration with the private sector, tap huge potential unfolding in the telecom sector and transform students as successful job creators instead of job seekers.

Equipped with full 4 G network, telecom labs, innovation zones, legal and intellectual property services, fully furnished offices and video conference rooms, the Startup Village will give a slew of incentives such as three-year service tax holiday and funding opportuntities for tech startups in its search for a billion dollar campus startup from India.

RIM’s innovation zone in Kerala (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/kochi/rim%E2%80%99s-innovation-zone-kerala-412)
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RIM VP Alec Saunders and MD (India) Sunil Dutt at the launch of the innovation zone
at Kinfra Hi-Tech Park in Kalamassery near Kochi on Thursday

KOCHI: BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) is to set up its innovation zone here, the first in the Asia Pacific region.

RIM vice-president Alec Saunders told mediapersons here on Thursday that the BlackBerry zone at the Rubus Labs in the Startup Village at Kalamassery, near here, would be followed with two others in the country this year.

The zone would showcase the latest technologies from BlackBerry which would be inspiration for future entrepreneurs. Those at the zone would get the new versions of the smartphone much in advance and get trained to develop new technologies, he said.

The zone would host regular developer activities such as ‘BlackBerry Hackathons and ‘Bar Camps’ and training would be imparted in the 126 engineering colleges in the state through the BlackBerry apps by student entrepreneurs programme, said RIM India managing director Sunil Dutt. He refused to get into details of investment and only said it was an ongoing process.

Union technology development board secretary Harkesh Mittal said that the state was leading in innovations in the country.

The incubation centre at Technopark was one successful venture pointing to the large number of innovators coming from the state. “For every rupee invested, the return was thrice that in three years,” he added.

The Startup village promoted by the union and state governments has a slew of incentives such as three-year service tax holiday and funding opportunities for tech startups, according to Village chairman Sanjay Vijaykumar.

BlackBerry started there Innovation Zone in Kochi without much fanfare. Hope we will get more surprise from Startup Village in future. :cheers:

Education Tablet KloudPad launched in India (http://techcircle.vccircle.com/500/education-tablet-kloudpad-launched-in-india-at-10k-what-you-get-miss/)
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UK-based startup KloudPad has launched a new education Tablet in India. The Tablet is also christened KloudPad and runs on the Android 4.0 operating system. It is priced at Rs 9,999 and available on Slatestore.in.

The company has tied up with Attano, a digital education marketplace, to provide relevant content for CBSE and ICSE courses. The Tablet also comes pre-loaded with apps like the Edu TV and Attano eBook (it offers reference materials). Additionally, the company has opted for local tie-ups for service and support. Currently, it has support centres in Kochi and Kozhikode while a centre in Thiruvananthapuram will be launched next month.

The startup was founded by Abbishek Jayaraj Shikky and his brother Aromal in 2010 and it was incubated by the Kent Chamber of Commerce. The company is now looking at the Startup Village in Kochi to start their R&D centre in the country.

“We will soon come out with customised solutions for the medical, legal and hospitality sectors,” said Aromal Jayaraj Shikky, co-founder and director of KloudPad.

What it offers

This one has a 7 inch capacitive touchscreen display (800×480 pixel resolution) and runs on the Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS (out of the box). It is powered by a 1.2 GHz Cortex-A8 processor and has 512 MB of RAM. The internal memory of the device is 4 GB, which can be expanded up to 32 GB with the help of a microSD card.

The device also features dual cameras (rear and front-facing) but the company hasn’t disclosed further details (in terms of mega pixels). It also has built-in 3G, which essentially means you can insert a SIM card for calling.

On the connectivity front, the Tablet is Wi-Fi and 3G compatible, and it comes with a USB port, a microSD card slot and an HDMI port. This one has a 4,000 mAh battery, which provides six hours of battery life (or so the company claims). The dimensions are not known yet but it weighs 380 gm.

Blackberry Innovation Zone at Startup Village, Kochi

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Startup Village huge success: More than 100 applications in less than 2 months

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cc: Mathrubhumi

Direction to Startup Village

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Full page article in today's Mathrubhumi

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Blackberry Rubus - Innovation Zone Inauguration

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That's a cake ;)
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IBM invites you to a webinar scheduled on 13th June 2012 to discuss how a mobile enterprise application platform can help you build, manage and integrate mobile and legacy environments more easily. When you mobilize multiple enterprise applications using a single application platform, you benefit from centralized control.....!
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Start-ups & Mobility – Catalyst for Future Growth
Event Date: Jun 13, 2012
Event Time: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (India Standard Time)
Hosted By: Ajit Yohannan (IBM)
Presented By: Shashwati Rakshit (IBM), LOGESH VINCENT (IBM)
cc: Startup Village

US Consul general visits Startup Village

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cc: Manorama

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Wonderful pics sree :cheers: that too your 100th post, kindly post the same in Cochin cityscapes under Indian cityscapes thread.

Wonderful pics sree :cheers: that too your 100th post, kindly post the same in Cochin cityscapes under Indian cityscapes thread.

Thanks and done :)

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Startup Village, Asianet Money Time

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Startup Village & IEEE ComSoc to groom innovative student projects (http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/kochi/5121-startup-village-a-ieee-comsoc-to-groom-innovative-student-projects)
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Startup Village, India’s first telecom hub that has already created a buzz for innovation and entrepreneurship among the youngsters in Kerala and beyond, is giving a unique bouquet of opportunities to engineering students to hatch their innovative ideas into realistic. Startup Village has launched this initiative along with the Kerala chapter of IEEE Communication Society (ComSoc) to identify innovative projects in communication technologies and applications by the students and pitch them on the growth orbit.

A slew of perks like platform to incubate the idea and partial funding to the students will be given to the select projects, apart from a rare opportunity to get mentored by Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan.

Sijo Kuruvilla, CEO, Startup Village said, “The programme is to ignite the passion for technology among the students and also to transform the young talents of Kerala as entrepreneurs. We are covering all the 164 engineering colleges in the State in this drive to spot the bright minds and novel ideas that can be the game changers tomorrow. The selected teams will be given partial funding, technical guidance, and access to Startup Village technologies including open BTS, Balloon Mapping, Twine etc for their project developments.”

Sasi P M, spokesman of ComSoc said, “We have been actively supporting the innovative spirit of students and the Kerala chapter last year provided technical and funding support to eight student projects in the area of communication. We are trying to scale up our efforts in collaboration with Startup Village to infuse innovation and entrepreneurial spirit in the young minds”. IEEE Communications society (Comsoc) promotes advancement of technology in communications domain.

Another feature of the programme is that the interested students will get access to the state-of-the-art Blackberry devices and services to test their project design and applications. Those ideas that have technological and commercial appeal will also get an opportunity to get incubated at Startup Village or Technopark, Trivandrum.

The proposals from the students will be selected based on the write-ups and later the presentation of the shortlisted ones. The maximum duration for the project development will be 12 months.

Student programmers from Startup Village shine in national hackathon (http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/kochi/5154-student-programmers-from-startup-village-shine-in-national-hackathon)
Giving a thumps up to the efforts of the newly launched Startup Village to promote innovations among the students, a group of engineering students from Kerala have bagged the top honours at the ‘hackathon’ held recently in Bangalore by developing novel applications which may prove highly useful for the masses.

By developing an innovative mobile application that will help the students to know exactly how many classes they bunked and how many they should attend to be eligible for exam, Anirudhan Adukkathayar from College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, won the first prize at the hackathon, a 36-hour-long competition for budding programmers. With strict minimum requirement attendance rules in most colleges, this app titled ‘Bunklog’ can work wonders for the students, according to the judges of the event.

He bagged the cash prize worth Rs.35,000 for his novel product from among nearly 200 applications, developed by 120 hackers drawn from across the country. The event was held by Innoz Technologies for its mobile platform, on July 14-15, 2012. The hackers were drawn from different cities, in a first of the kind experiment to show how innovators can use SMS platform to develop applications for the masses.

The second prize of Rs.15,000 was also bagged by another Kerala team member John Sebastian Perayil from Government Model Engineering College, Kochi for his innovative application that dealt with text message encryption. The application named ‘Cipher’ allows users to encrypt their messages for complete privacy and it can be very useful when confidential information needs to be exchanged via SMS.

The most popular app prize went to Jayadeep S of MG University College of Engineering, Thodupuzha and Nitin of RIT, Kottayam for their application that helped people get a database of blood donors from their respective areas along with their contact numbers.

Sijo Kuruvilla George, CEO, Startup Village said, “I have always believed in the potential of the young students in Kerala. Exposure was the only key ingredient missing in our students from realizing their true potential. We sent the team to the event to give them the right exposure. The amazing feat by the Startup Village mavericks at the Hackathon stands testimony to the innovative skills of our students. They left almost everyone dazzled.”

A 23-member student development team from Kerala represented the Kochi based Startup Village, the first telecom incubator of country established to incubate start-up ventures.

Infosys initiative to fill entrepreneurship vacuum (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Infosys-initiative-to-fill-entrepreneurship-vacuum/articleshow/15050082.cms)
Information technology (IT) giant Infosys is trying to find a solution for the country's lacklustre levels of entrepreneurship by roping in the country heads of major IT and telecom companies to discuss a road map for promoting start-ups in the country.

Chief executives or senior figures from the Indian arms of major companies like Microsoft, Google, Dell, HP, Vodafone and others will meet in Bangalore campus of Infosys on Friday to draw a blueprint for Kochi-based Startup Village, a technology business incubator to promote 1,000 telecom start-ups within 10 years' time. "There are roughly 5,000 incubators in the world, of which 2,000 are in the US and 1,000 in China," Sanjay Vijayakumar, a management team member and chief executive of MobME Wireless Solutions said. "India has only 65 incubators, but we need at the least 1,000 in the country," observed Sony Joy, chief evangelist at the Startup Village and co-founder of MobME. "The existing incubators are associated with academic institutions and hence don't possess the kind of business acumen their counterparts in the US have," Joy said.

Based at Kinfra High Tech Park, Startup Village will be promoting young entrepreneurs of the 18 - 25 years of age range. The incubation phase and the three-month long accelerator phase will be run on not-for-profit basis. The Startup Village also has the distinction of being the first business incubator in India on the private-public-partnership mode. According to Joy, the Startup Village will be a model for the entire country to emulate. In that perspective, the discussion happening in Bangalore gets a national significance. "The blueprint of the Startup Village will be scaled up across the country later and hence it is important that we get it right from the beginning," Vijayakumar said.

News about Start-Up Village in Asianet Money Time

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Balloon Mapping by Start Up Entrepreneurs

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Industry majors to support IT product startup village (http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2012/07/23/350--Kerala-Industry-majors-to-support-IT-product-start-ups-village-.html)
Top IT and telecom executives have pledged institutional and technological support to foster next generation telecom and internet start-ups at the Kochi-based Startup Village.

Based at the Kinfra High Tech Park, Kochi, it is the first business incubator in the country on the private-public-partnership (PPP) basis, said a Startup Village press release here Monday. The Village aims to promote 1,000 telecom-internet product start-ups in the 18-25 age group in ten years.

The pledge for support to budding entrepreneurs was made at a high-profile meet at the IT major Infosys campus in Bangalore. The meet held Friday at the initiative of Infosys co-chairman and Startup Village chief mentor Kris Gopalakrishnan, was attended by top functionaries of the Indian units of around 30 companies, including Intel, Alcatel-Lucent, KPMG, Capegemini, Blackberry, Nokia, Siemens Networks, IBM and Gemalto.

NASSCOM, CII, enterpreneurship developer The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and the Cellular Operators Association of India are leading industry associations backing the initiative.

H.K. Mittal, head and advisor, National Science and Technology Entrepreneur Development Board (NSTEDB), said the Startup Village, India's first PPP Incubator, is a keystone in creating the blueprint for the next 1000 incubators in the country.

"The Government of India has been promoting incubation for the last 28 years and this is for the first time that so many leaders have come together," Mittal told the gathering.

Gopalakrishnan said it was time to think beyond the obvious and take a giant leap forward for building the ecosystem needs of the next generation IT product start-ups from the country.

The meeting assumes significance as India is trying to scale up the incubation ecosystem for generating growth and employment.

Currently, there are around 5,000 incubators in the world, of which 2,000 are in the US and 1,000 in China. India has been able to produce only 65 incubators in the last 28 years and is now looking to leapfrog to having at least 1,000 of these in the country.

The Startup Village, being in the PPP model, is seen by the central government as one of the key pilots for scaling up innovation and entrepreneurship in the country, especially in engineering colleges.

V Balasubramanian, head of R&D, Nokia Siemens Network, said his company would be rolling out some of its most advanced technology platforms for start-ups to build, break and innovate within a period of two months.

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Actor Dileep with Profoundis :)
He spent some time with Startup Village and teams... :):)


Profoundis, One of the Start up company in Start up village ,Kinfra Hi tech Park

Image Courtesy:FB Profoundis.
Wishing all the best to all new buds in this village.

Profoundis envisions touching the lives of people by creating a range of visionary products and delivering services with distinctions.
A group of high intellect individuals, committed to make world a better place to live.

Profoundis was born as the fruit of the dreams of four individuals with the support and help of countless number of people.

Central Minister Sachin PIlot visited Startup village

കേന്ദ്രമന്ത്രി സച്ചിന്* പൈലറ്റ് 'സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട് അപ്പ് വില്ലേജില്*' എത്തി

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കൊച്ചി: സ്വപ്നങ്ങളും ആശയവുമായി വരുന്നവരെ ഉയരങ്ങളിലേക്ക് പറക്കാന്* പ്രാപ്തരാക്കുന്ന രാജ്യത്തെ ആദ്യത്തെ ടെക്*നോളജി ബിസിനസ്സ് ഇന്*ക്യുബേഷന്* സെന്ററായ 'സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട് അപ്പ് വില്ലേജില്*' കേന്ദ്രമന്ത്രി സച്ചിന്* പൈലറ്റിന്റെ സന്ദര്*ശനം. വെള്ളിയാഴ്ച വൈകീട്ട് അഞ്ച് മണിയോടെ കളമശ്ശേരി കിന്*ഫ്ര പാര്*ക്കില്* സ്ഥിതിചെയ്യുന്ന സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട് അപ്പ് വില്ലേജിലെത്തിയ അദ്ദേഹം ഏറെനേരം അവിടെ ചെലവഴിച്ചു.

അക്കാദമിയും വ്യവസായശാലകളും തമ്മിലുള്ള അന്തരം കുറയ്*ക്കേണ്ടത് അത്യാവശ്യമാണെന്ന് അദ്ദേഹം പറഞ്ഞു. വിദ്യാഭ്യാസം ചെയ്യുന്നവര്* കുട്ടികള്* പ്രായോഗിക തലത്തിലേക്ക് വരുമ്പോള്* വ്യക്തമായി ധാരണയില്ലാത്തവരായി മാറുന്ന അവസ്ഥയാണ് കണ്ടു വരുന്നത്.

ഇതെല്ലാം ഒഴിവാക്കുന്നതിനായി അവരുടെ സര്*ഗാത്മകതയും കഴിവുമെല്ലാം ചെറുപ്പത്തിലേ കണ്ടെത്തി വേണ്ട പരിശീലനം നല്*കാന്* കഴിയണം. അത്തരത്തിലുള്ള വിഷയങ്ങളായിരിക്കണം പാഠ്യപദ്ധതിയില്* ഉള്*പ്പെടുത്തേണ്ടതെന്നും അദ്ദേഹം പറഞ്ഞു. ആശയങ്ങള്* വിപണിയിലേക്ക് എത്തിക്കാന്* സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട് അപ്പ് വില്ലേജിലൂടെ സാധിക്കും.

ആശയങ്ങള്*ക്ക് പിന്തുണ നല്*കാനും സൗകര്യം ഒരുക്കാനും മാത്രമേ സര്*ക്കാരുകള്*ക്കാവൂ. അതിനു വേണ്ട എല്ലാ സംവിധാനവും ഒരുക്കാന്* സര്*ക്കാര്* തയ്യാറാണെന്നും അദ്ദേഹം പറഞ്ഞു. രാജ്യത്തെ ഐ.ടി. കയറ്റുമതി ഇപ്പോള്* 100 ബില്യണ്* ഡോളറിനടുത്ത് എത്തിയിരിക്കുകയാണ്. 2020-ഓടെ ഇത് 200 ബില്യണിലെത്തിക്കാനാണ് ലക്ഷ്യമിടുന്നതെന്നും അദ്ദേഹം പറഞ്ഞു.

വില്ലേജ് മുഴുവന്* ചുറ്റിനടന്ന അദ്ദേഹം കാമ്പസില്* വൃക്ഷത്തൈ നട്ടു. ഹൈബി ഈഡന്* എം.എല്*.എ., കിന്*ഫ്ര എം.ഡി. രാമനാഥ്, ഇന്*ഫോപാര്*ക്ക് സി.ഇ.ഒ ജിജോ ജോസഫ്, സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട് അപ്പ് വില്ലേജ് സി.ഇ.ഒ സിജോ കുരുവിള ജോര്*ജ്, ചെയര്*മാന്* സഞ്ജയ് വിജയകുമാര്* എന്നിവര്* പങ്കെടുത്തു.

http://www.mathrubhumi.com/online/malayalam/news/story/1753249/2012-08-04/kerala

Start-up Village, the country’s first telecom incubator, functioning out of the Kinfra Hi-tech Park in Kalamassery swept the Union Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology Sachin Pilot off his feet by the sheer innovative spirit of the facility and the eco system it offers to the budding entrepreneurs willing to think out of the box.

Mr. Pilot who visited the facility on Friday felt the village was fantastic. It was was capable of inspiring youngsters to create and innovate. He pledged the full support of the Union government for the village.

The journey from an idea to the market is best done in an atmosphere as enabling as this. He was confident that Start-up Village will be able to achieve its target of promoting 1,000 telecom-internet product start-ups. “We don’t want young people to be afraid of doing things that perhaps they would not have done without getting the kind of support system they are getting here. In fact, I am just waiting for the next Yahoo, and Google, and Microsoft to emerge from India,” Mr. Pilot said.

He said that while India is now a leader in IT exports it must not limit itself to business processing, data entry and other low-end services. “It’s time we go up the value chain. And to do that you need to be innovative, create companies and ideas that can be monetized here and not work for a multinational company 20 hours a day and six days a week and contribute to value addition in all continents except India,” Mr. Pilot said. He said that it was best if the government kept out of interfering in the running of facilities like Start-up Village. “I don’t think that government is the best agency to innovate. The government must play the role of a facilitator,” the minister said.

He felt that one reason why the IT industry has really done well is perhaps the government kept out of it and limited itself to creating the right environment. Today we are touching almost a hundred billion dollars worth of IT exports and our target is 200 billion dollars by 2020, Mr. Pilot said. The minister said that the concept of Start-up Village can be replicated provided there is a willing State government, real game changers and individual companies which can take the idea forward. Whatever the Union government is required to do we are more than happy to do that, he said.

He said the country’s substantial innovation fund worth more than Rs, 1,000, should go in to in initiatives like this. More than about the deployment of money, it’s about creating a system which is not as rigid like a university that does not really encourage thinking. He said that the gap between academia and industry has traditionally been the problem faced by the country. Earlier, Mr. Pilot planted a sapling in the campus. Hibi Eden, MLA, Infopark CEO Gigo Joseph, Sanjay Vijayakumar, chairman, Board of Governors, Startup Village, and Sijo Kuruvilla George, CEO, were present.

from thehindu: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/article3725643.ece

കേരളത്തില്* പുതിയ സംരംഭങ്ങള്*ക്ക് അവസരമൊരുക്കാന്* യു. എസ്. വിദഗ്ധ

കൊച്ചി: അമേരിക്കയില്* ഒട്ടേറെ കമ്പനികള്*ക്കു തുടക്കമിട്ട പ്രമുഖ നിക്ഷേപകയും സംരംഭകയുമായ എസ്തര്* ഡൈസന്* കൊച്ചിയിലെ സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട്അപ് വില്ലേജുമായി സഹകരിച്ചു പ്രവര്*ത്തിക്കും. ഇതിനു മുന്നോടിയായി ഇവര്* ഞായറാഴ്ച കളമശ്ശേരി കിന്*ഫ്രാ ഹൈടെക് പാര്*ക്കിലെ സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട്അപ് വില്ലേജ് സന്ദര്*ശിക്കും.

ഓണ്*ലൈന്* സേവനം, ആരോഗ്യപരിരക്ഷ, ജനിതകശാസ്ത്രം, ബഹിരാകാശയാത്ര എന്നീ മേഖലകളില്* നിരവധി സംരംഭങ്ങളിലെ നിക്ഷേപകയും അവയുടെ ബോര്*ഡ് അംഗവുമാണ് എസ്തര്*. ഇവരുടെ സന്ദര്*ശനം കേരളത്തില്* ശൈശവദിശയിലുള്ള നിരവധി കമ്പനികള്*ക്കു പ്രചോദനമാകുമെന്ന് സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട്അപ് വില്ലേജ് ഭരണസമിതി ചെയര്*മാന്* സഞ്ജയ് വിജയകുമാര്* പറഞ്ഞു. ഇത് കേരളത്തിലെ കമ്പനികള്*ക്ക് കൂടുതല്* അവസരമൊരുക്കുമെന്നും അദ്ദേഹം പറഞ്ഞു.

യാഹു ഏറ്റെടുത്ത സ്ഥാപനങ്ങളായ ഡെല്*. ഐസിയുഎസ്, ഫ്*ളിക്കര്*, സിമാന്*ടെക് ഏറ്റെടുത്ത സ്ഥാപനങ്ങളായ ബ്രൈറ്റ്*മെയില്*, മൈക്രോസോഫ്റ്റ് ഏറ്റെടുത്ത മെഡ്*സ്ട്രി, വെബ്*മെഡ് ഏറ്റെടുത്ത മെഡ്*സ്*പേസ് തുടങ്ങിയവ ഏസ്തറുടെ നിക്ഷേപമുപയോഗിച്ചു തുടങ്ങിയ സ്ഥാപനങ്ങളാണ്. ഇവയെല്ലാം സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട്അപ് വില്ലേജിനു മാതൃകയാക്കാവുന്നതാണെന്നും അദ്ദേഹം കൂട്ടിച്ചേര്*ത്തു.

http://www.mathrubhumi.com/online/malayalam/news/story/1778534/2012-08-18/business

സംരംഭകത്വത്തില്* ഇന്ത്യ പിന്നിലെന്ന് എസ്തര്* ഡൈസന്*

കൊച്ചി: സംരംഭകത്വത്തിലും യഥാർത്ഥ ബിസിനസ് അനുഭവസമ്പത്തിലും ഇന്ത്യ പിന്നിലാണെന്ന് അമേരിക്കയിലെ സിലിക്കൺ വാലിയിൽ നിന്നുള്ള പ്രമുഖ സംരംഭകയും നിക്ഷേപകയുമായ എസ്തർ ഡൈസൻ അഭിപ്രായപ്പെട്ടു. കളമശ്ശേരി കിൻഫ്ര പാർക്കിലുള്ള സ്റ്റാർട്ട് അപ് വില്ലേജ് സന്ദർശിക്കുകയായിരുന്നു അവർ. ഈ ദശകത്തിലെ അവസരങ്ങൾ പ്രയോജനപ്പെടുത്തണമെങ്കിൽ നല്ല ആശയങ്ങൾ വേണം.

സംരംഭകത്വത്തിൽ ഇന്ന് ഇന്ത്യയിൽ അനുഭവപ്പെടുന്ന ന്യൂനതകൾ പരിഹരിക്കുന്നതിനുള്ള ഏറ്റവും നല്ല തുടക്കമാണ് രാജ്യത്തെ ആദ്യ ടെലികോം ഇൻക്യുബേറ്ററായ കൊച്ചി സ്റ്റാർട്ട് അപ് വില്ലേജെന്ന് അവർ പറഞ്ഞു. കേരളത്തെ സിലിക്കൺ തീരമാക്കുക എന്ന ലക്ഷ്യത്തോടെ ആരംഭിച്ച സ്റ്റാർട്ട് അപ് വില്ലേജിൽ ഇതിനോടകം തുടക്കമിട്ടിട്ടുള്ള സംരംഭങ്ങളുടെ പ്രവർത്തനത്തിൽ അവർ സംതൃപ്തി രേഖപ്പെടുത്തി. ഉപയോക്താക്കൾക്ക് എന്താണു വേണ്ടതെന്ന് സംരംഭകർ അറിഞ്ഞിരിക്കണം. ഒരു സംരംഭകൻ മാത്രമാകുന്നതിലും നല്ലത് സംരംഭകരുടെ കൂട്ടായ്മയാണെന്നും സംരംഭകത്വം വളർത്തിയെടുക്കാനായി ദാവോസിലെ ലോക സാമ്പത്തിക ഫോറത്തിൽ രൂപം നൽകിയ ഗ്ലോബൽ അജണ്ട കൗൺസിലിന്റെ അധ്യക്ഷ കൂടിയായ എസ്തർ സ്റ്റാർട്ട് അപ് വില്ലേജിലെ സംരംഭകരോടു സംസാരിക്കവെ പറഞ്ഞു. ഫ്ലിക്കർ, ഡെൽ, ഇസിയോ യുഎസ്, ഗൂഗിൾ, എവർനോട്ട് തുടങ്ങി നൂറ്റമ്പതോളം സംരംഭങ്ങളെ ലോകത്തിന്റെ ചരിത്രം മാറ്റിയെഴുതത്തക്ക രീതിയിൽ വളർത്തിയെടുത്തവരാണ് എസ്തർ.

പരാജയം സംരംഭകത്വത്തിന്റെ ഭാഗമാണെന്ന് സ്ഥാപനങ്ങളിൽ താൻ നേരിട്ടു പണം മുടക്കിയതിന്റെ (ഏഞ്ചൽ ഇൻവെസ്റ്റ്മെന്റ്) അനുഭവങ്ങൾ വിവരിച്ച എസ്തർ പറഞ്ഞു. സംരംഭകരുടെ പൂന്തോട്ടത്തിൽ എസ്തർ നിത്യഹരിത വൃക്ഷതൈ നടുകയും ചെയ്തു.

സ്റ്റാർട്ട് അപ് വില്ലേജ് ചെയർമാൻ സഞ്ജയ് വിജയകുമാർ, സിഇഒ സിജോ കുരുവിള ജോർജ് എന്നിവരും സംബന്ധിച്ചു.

http://www.mathrubhumi.com/online/malayalam/news/story/1783239/2012-08-21/business

Angel investor visits Startup Village

http://newindianexpress.com/incoming/article592355.ece/ALTERNATES/w460/Esther-Dyson.jpg

The dearth of experienced people is a problem both in the US and in India. But unlike India, the problem in US is because of the rising number of startups, said angel investor from Silicon Valley Esther Dyson, at the Startup Village in Kinfra Park, Kalamassery, on Sunday.

Esther, who has invested in about 150 startups in US, Russia, Poland, Africa and one in Bangalore, said that entrepreneurs should have good communication skills, flexibility and continuous innovation.

Esther, who is also the chairperson of Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship of the World Economic Forum, said that she is interested in startups that endeavoured to make around 10,000 people productive than the ‘one-man hero’, in the field of health and logistics.

Startups are all about identifying problems, and finding a solution, which may or may not be a success.

She said that she has tasted failures too but has considered them as part of her success.

Her first investment was in the company where she had worked. “I bought it from my boss. I have been lucky all the way, for all the hard work that I put in initially,” she said.

The 61-year-old philanthropist is also the founding chairperson of Internet Cooperation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

She is revered world over for her investment in game-changing startups like Flickr and Del.icio.us (later acquired by Yahoo), Brightmail (acquired by Symantec), and Medstry (Microsoft), and Medspace (now part of WebMD). She interacted with the entrepreneurs and listened to the presentations made by the startups ‘nwplying’ and ‘blue bag’.

Startup Village CEO Sijo Kuruvila George and Sanjay Vijayakumar, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Startup Village were also present.

They said that 10 startups will be selected for the annual Silicon Valley Acceleration Programme.

“If one of our firms finds itself on the list, it will have the potential of being a global company and will give exposure to other firms in India,” they said.

http://newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/article592356.ece

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/7076/31953706.png

source: kerala kaumudi

ഏഞ്ചല്* നെറ്റ്*വര്*ക്ക് സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട്അപ് വില്ലേജിന്റെ ഉപദേഷ്ടാക്കളാകും

കൊച്ചി: ഇന്ത്യയിലെ ആദ്യ ടെലികോം ഇന്*ക്യുബേറ്ററായ കൊച്ചി സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട്അപ് വില്ലേജിലെ സംരംഭകരുടെ ഉപദേഷ്ടാക്കളായി പ്രവര്*ത്തിക്കാന്* ഇന്ത്യയിലെ പ്രമുഖ മൂലധന നിക്ഷേപകരായ (ഏഞ്ചല്* ഇന്*വെസ്റ്റര്*) ഇന്ത്യന്* ഏഞ്ചല്* നെറ്റ്*വര്*ക്ക് (ഐ. എ. എന്*.) എത്തുന്നു. ഐ. എ. എന്* പ്രസിഡന്റ് പത്മജ രൂപാറേലും സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട്അപ് വില്ലേജ് സി. ഇ. ഒ. സിജോ കുരുവിളയും ഇതുസംബന്ധിച്ച കരാറില്* ഒപ്പുവച്ചു.

കരാറിന്റെ ഭാഗമായി ഐ. എ. എന്*. ഡല്*ഹി ഓഫീസില്* സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട്അപ് വില്ലേജിലെ പുത്തന്* സംരംഭകര്*ക്ക് മാര്*ഗനിര്*ദേശം നല്*കാനായി സൗകര്യമൊരുക്കുമെന്ന് സിജോ കുരുവിള പറഞ്ഞു. വിഭവസമാഹരണം നടത്താനും കാര്യബോധമുള്ള വരുമാന മാതൃകകള്* സൃഷ്ടിക്കാനും സംരംഭകര്*ക്ക് ഇതിലൂടെ കഴിയും. ഉന്നത നിലവാരമുള്ള മാര്*ഗനിര്*ദേശങ്ങള്*ക്കും വിപുലമായ ശൃംഖലകള്*ക്കും തന്ത്രങ്ങള്*ക്കും കൃത്യനിര്*വഹണത്തിനുമുള്ള അവസരങ്ങളും സ്ഥാപനങ്ങള്*ക്ക് ലഭിക്കും. തങ്ങളുടെ സംരംഭങ്ങളുടെ സാധ്യതകളും അപകടങ്ങളും തുടക്കത്തില്*തന്നെ മനസിലാക്കാന്* അങ്ങനെ സംരംഭകര്*ക്ക് കഴിയുമെന്ന് സിജോ കുരുവിള ചൂണ്ടിക്കാട്ടി.

മൂലധന നിക്ഷേപകരുടെ വന്*ശൃംഖലയാണ് ഇന്ത്യന്* ഏഞ്ചല്* നെറ്റ്*വര്*ക്കിനുള്ളത്. സ്വന്തം പാനലില്* നിക്ഷേപകരുടെയും ഉപദേഷ്ടാക്കളുടെയും വലിയൊരു നിര തന്നെയുണ്ട്. ഐ. എ. എന്നുമായി സഹകരണത്തിനും പങ്കാളിത്തത്തിനും സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട്അപ് വില്ലേജ് ഉദ്ദേശിക്കുന്നുണ്ടെന്ന് സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട്അപ് വില്ലേജ് ചെയര്*മാന്* സഞ്ജയ് വിജയകുമാര്* അറിയിച്ചു. പ്രാരംഭ ദിശയിലുള്ള കമ്പനികള്*ക്ക് കൂടുതല്* പ്രവര്*ത്തന വൈപുല്യം ആര്*ജിക്കാന്* ഇതു സഹായകമാവും.

സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട്അപ് വില്ലേജ് സന്ദര്*ശിച്ച പത്മജ രൂപാറേല്* 'മൂലധനനിക്ഷേപവും സമാഹരണവും ലക്ഷ്യമാക്കിയുള്ള ബിസിനസ് പ്ലാന്* എങ്ങനെയുണ്ടാക്കാം' എന്ന വിഷയത്തില്* സംസാരിച്ചു. സംരംഭകത്വം തൊഴിലന്വേഷകരെ തൊഴില്* ദാതാക്കളാക്കുകയാണ് ചെയ്യുന്നതെന്ന് അവര്* പറഞ്ഞു. വില്ലേജിലെ 'സംരംഭക പൂന്തോട്ട' ത്തില്* അവര്* വൃക്ഷത്തൈ നടുകയും ചെയ്തു.

http://www.mathrubhumi.com/online/malayalam/news/story/1800845/2012-09-01/business

Smart Line ups at Start-Up Village (http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/students-linesmart-projects-for-kochi-startup-village/485494/)

Imagine a wheelchair that moves on your instruction or through the movements of eyes! Or think of a situation when you are desperately looking for an autorickshaw, and the problem gets solved with just an SMS.

These are among the six innovative projects coming from engineering students in Kerala for incubation at the Startup village in Kochi, a pubic-private partnership telocom business incubator.

The projects were selected for further development after a talent hunt jointly held by Startup Village and the Kerala Chapter of IEEE Communication Society (ComSoc). “We selected these projects not only for their innovativeness but also for their usefulness for the masses,” said Sanjay Vijayakumar, chairman of the governing board of Startup Village. Last year, ComSoc had provided support to eight innovative projects.

Conceived by five students of Sahrdaya College of Engineering Technology, Kodakara in Thrissur, the ‘Intelligent Wheelchair’ can be operated through eye movements, voice or a lever so that even a physically-challenged, dumb or blind person can operate it. Sensors to detect hazards, SMS alerts to get connected with the patient and a device to monitor physiological conditions and inform the doctor are other smart options.

‘Smartmotive’, developed by students of Government Engineering College, Thrissur, is a standing wheelchair that helps a paralysed person to stand up from the seating position. Since its every movement is controlled by retinal movements or facial commands or sound, it can be operated by people suffering from any kind of paralysis.

Another project is the ‘SMS Vehicle Locating Solution’, which will save passengers from the ordeal of endless waiting to hire an autorickshaw. The solution by a team from College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, aims to eliminate the need to wait as commuters can send SMS alerts to auto drivers pinpointing their location in plain text as well as an identifiable landmark location code to the designated number. All auto rickshaw drivers operating in the area will be notified with the fare details. While the current solutions require the use of smart phones and global positioning systems, the proposed system is designed to function on basic feature phones that support SMS functionality.

Scientifically Trained Arm-Robotic Kinesis (STARK), proposed by a group of students of Mar Baselios College of Engineering and Technology, is a battery-powered, lightweight exoskeletal framework of an arm to provide support, or to enhance the physical capabilities of the wearer.

Among others is Project Haritha (hybrid automated remote irrigation technique for agriculture), which is a user-friendly automated solar powered irrigation system for home gardens. The idea was mooted by the students of Sree Chitra Thirunal College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram.

Start up village is one of the best thing happend in recent years in Kochi

Finnish varsity, Kochi-based Startup Village ink technology pact

Helsinki, Sept. 7: A Finnish University will provide entrepreneurial and technology knowhow to India’s first telecom incubator started in a village near Kochi.

The Aalto Centre for Entrepreneurship has tied up with Startup Village for technological collaboration and to provide it a cutting edge to its aspirations to churn out billion dollar start-ups from Indian campuses.

ACE, under the Aalto University, is known for incubating game-changing startups, while the Kochi-based Startup Village — the first incubator in the public-private partnership (PPP) mode in the country — harbours ambitions of grooming billion-dollar ventures from Indian campuses.

Startup Village, the Technology Business Incubator, is promoted by the Department of Science and Technology, Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram, and MobME Wireless.

Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Infosys, is the Chief Mentor for Startup Village.

The MoU signed between Aalto and Startup marks a milestone in Indo-Finnish efforts to strengthen bilateral relations in the field of technology, initiated by both the Governments with the formation of a joint working group and visit of ministerial delegations, said Sanjay Vijakumar, Chairman of the Governing Board of Startup Village.

He said the pact is expected to give a fillip to the joint drive for future innovations by harnessing Finland’s prowess in product technology and India’s frugal innovations.

Vijakumar inked the MoU with Tapio Siik, head of ACE, in the presence of a host of dignitaries who are part of a high-level delegation led by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) visiting Finland.

Equipped with 4G network, telecom labs, legal and intellectual property services, among others, Startup will provide incentives such as a three-year service tax holiday and funding opportunities for tech start-ups.

It aims to incubate 1,000 product startups over 10 years and start the search for a billion-dollar company from a college campus by the turn of this decade.

Startup Village will create an ecosystem and provide a platform for startups to create breakthrough technologies for the global telecom industry.

Startup Village will focus primarily on student startups from college campuses.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/info-tech/article3869734.ece

Byte by byte, in God’s own country


He is just 28 years old but Sijo Kuruvilla George has already started a company, built it up, made his million and is now helping other kids walk down the same path. Mr. George is CEO of Startup Village in Kochi’s Kinfra Hi-Tech Park, a company that “incubates” college kids with terrific ideas but without the resources to build on them.

Startup Village is a public-private partnership between the Department of Science and Technology and MobMe, a company founded by Mr. George and his college-mate, Sanjay Vijayakumar when they were still studying. Its agenda is to create an ecosystem that will help start-ups develop breakthrough technologies. As Mr. George says: “From ideas to IPO.”

In many ways, Startup Village symbolises the silent transformation that is on right now in Kerala’s industry scene. The State was never known for its manufacturing strength, rather it was more famous for its labour unions and industrial strikes. Given the high literacy levels in the State, finding unskilled labour is difficult. People are also highly aware about the environment and have in the past opposed industries that either pollute or exploit their natural resources. On top of all this, land is scarce in Kerala and acquisition of land for setting up industries is a sensitive issue.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy admitted as much in an interview to The Hindu (Op-Ed, September 7). “We know that we are far behind in the manufacturing sector and we know the limitations also…. we don’t have much wasteland. So we cannot think of inviting the major polluting industries.”

From services to IT

Therefore, successive governments have preferred to focus on the services sector, predominantly tourism, relatively non-polluting, and which needs little unskilled labour. The natural beauty that the State is endowed with has been exploited very well for tourism.

In the last few years though the focus has shifted several gears to the information technology industry where a quiet revolution is on to build up the State as an attractive alternative to its better established neighbours — Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Kerala works with a simple model for this: set up IT parks across the State and lease out the space to companies either in the form of land — in which case it is a 90-year lease — or built space that is fully furnished renewable every three years. The model is by itself not anything new; the Chinese perfected it in their quest for manufacturing dominance. The difference though is that Kerala is scarce on land and has to tailor its policy accordingly. That it has been prudent until now is evident when you visit the Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram and meet its CEO K.G. Girish Babu. It was the first such park to be set up in the early 1990s and was an idea ahead of its time.

Kerala follows a hub-and-spoke model with three hubs in the capital, Kochi and Kozhikode. Each hub has satellites within a 50-60 kilometre radius where again space will be allocated for IT and BPO companies. Kochi, for instance, has satellite centres in Cherthala and Koratty.

The Technopark itself is the single largest IT park in the country spread over 748 acres of greenery and boasting 7.1 million square feet of built up space. “We have taken care to design our buildings with minimal impact on environment,” says Mr. Babu with justifiable pride and pointing to the green expanse around him. There are a little over 37,000 people working in the park with companies such as TCS, Oracle, Cap Gemini, UST Global and Infosys. But when all four phases are completed in the next three years there will be 2,00,000 people working out of the campus.

The Infopark in Kochi is a carbon copy, though smaller with 3.5 million sq.ft of built-up space. Arun Rajeevan from its marketing department says that 155 companies function out of the park employing 17,000 people. Software exports from Infopark last year totalled Rs.1,100 crore, less than half that of Technopark’s Rs.2,800 crore. A second phase of 160 acres is now under development but direct employment will double to 35,000 people by the time Phase I ends in 2015, he says.

Three advantages

Admittedly, the numbers appear small when compared to Karnataka or Tamil Nadu. For instance, Chennai alone has about 2,50,000 IT employees and Bangalore a few times that number. Yet, there is an unmistakable trend of companies gravitating towards Kerala, says Technopark’s Mr. Babu. And this movement is driven by three main advantages that Kerala enjoys.

First, uninterrupted grid power at prices as low as Rs.4-5 a unit. Mr. Babu points out that Kochi’s Infopark has seven different power sources and it has never had to take recourse to captive generation. In comparison, both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have long hours of power cuts.

Second, low cost of operations. Infopark, for instance, leases out built space for between Rs.35-45 a square foot depending on whether it is an empty shell or fully furnished. Technopark at Thiruvananthapuram is cheaper at Rs.25 a square foot on average. The cost of living in Thiruvananthapuram or Kochi is relatively lower than in Bangalore or Chennai which is a big plus for staff.

Third, the low attrition rate of just four per cent coupled with the large catchment area for engineers — Kerala has 164 engineering colleges — means that finding and retaining qualified people is not an issue.

Mr. Babu says that the new generation of IT workers don’t carry the baggage of the past; they are children of locals who migrated to other parts of the country or abroad and have thus imbibed the culture of hard work.

The biggest advantage of all though is the simple procedures for companies to start operations. “I’m empowered to grant all sanctions and clearances in Technopark,” he says.

Riding on these pluses, Kerala believes that its time has come in the IT industry. Just as well, because generating employment for its people is one of the biggest challenges that the State is now facing.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article3886025.ece?homepage=true

- Initial investment to cost Rs.300 crore. Agreement to be signed on Saturday

Source- http://www.manoramanews.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/mmtvContentView.do?contentId=12409275&programId=0&tabId=14&contentType=EDITORIAL&BV_ID=@@@

Oracle will invest 300 crore, TCS is going to invest 600 crore all great news :banana::cheers::banana:

- Initial investment to cost Rs.300 crore. Agreement to be signed on Saturday

Source- http://www.manoramanews.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/mmtvContentView.do?contentId=12409275&programId=0&tabId=14&contentType=EDITORIAL&BV_ID=@@@

excellent news

- Initial investment to cost Rs.300 crore. Agreement to be signed on Saturday

Source- http://www.manoramanews.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/mmtvContentView.do?contentId=12409275&programId=0&tabId=14&contentType=EDITORIAL&BV_ID=@@@

Is it Typo , cant beleive this... .:banana:

Yes its true

Manorama and Asianet featured an interview with Sanjay Vijayakumar, Chairman of Start-up Village as well as Mob-Me. He said, the company will be signing agreement with Oracle, to set up its Java training academy in Start Up Village. The facility can train upto 36,000 students. Infosys Chairman Kris will be present in the function.

Startup village is for telecom incubators; how come Java Training center in that location?

Yes its true

Manorama and Asianet featured an interview with Sanjay Vijayakumar, Chairman of Start-up Village as well as Mob-Me. He said, the company will be signing agreement with Oracle, to set up its Java training academy in Start Up Village. The facility can train upto 36,000 students. Infosys Chairman Kris will be present in the function.

What is the point in having a training centre?
It would have been much better if they opened a development centre as in Technopark in Kochi also.
Most of the people in this forum or the state for that matter have no idea how big a change Oracle development centres can bring about.
Thousands of people earning more than 7-8lpa as starting salary.Just imagine.

Almost all of us knows the importance of having an Oracle Development Center in Kerala either in TVM and/or in Kochi. It is not just the salary, it is the name of that company that bring glory to the city where it has the developement center. The Oracle development center always creates more and more jobs outside Oracle also.

Training Center also good; I pointed out the location only. Smartup village is mainly for incubators and not for training.

I 100% support Oracle Training Center. Hope they will start Development/product support centers in Kerala....

Hope this may force other MNCs like MS, IBM etc to setup development centers in Kerala





What is the point in having a training centre?
It would have been much better if they opened a development centre as in Technopark in Kochi also.
Most of the people in this forum or the state for that matter have no idea how big a change Oracle development centres can bring about.
Thousands of people earning more than 7-8lpa as starting salary.Just imagine.

IBM to start campus at startup village. :cheers::banana::cheers: Reported by Reporter TV

IBM to start campus at startup village. :cheers::banana::cheers: Reported by Reporter TV

source??

What is the point in having a training centre?
It would have been much better if they opened a development centre as in Technopark in Kochi also.
Most of the people in this forum or the state for that matter have no idea how big a change Oracle development centres can bring about.
Thousands of people earning more than 7-8lpa as starting salary.Just imagine.

We are not saying, we don't want them... Kochi Infopark has very limited built up space... Now the upcoming Phase 2 as well as Smart City, might help them to consider starting an unit here. Not only them, many others.

In our state, we provide multiple location advantage. One city cannot boast the ONLY ADVANTAGE. So naturally, once more space gets available, we can expect investors

Start-UP village, aims to create a HP or Apple or Microsoft kind of ventures from our own country. They are sowing seeds for a bright future tommorrow. In this process, Kochi will able to reap the benefits of these seeds in near future. Skill development and training facilities of current IT majors, will be a catylst for such entrepreneurial development of future.....

source??

http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/mmonline.dll/portal/ep/malayalamContentView.do?contentId=12417416&programId=1073753760&tabId=11&contentType=EDITORIAL&BV_ID=@@@

Already Blackberry's RIM has established a similar Mobile Computing Innovation Zone in Start-Up village. Now IBM too... Start Up village is one the best things that Kochi saw in recent times, without any hype...... It really making its returns.....:banana:

IBM to start campus at startup village. :cheers::banana::cheers:

Finally, the long wait is over. It took one year to make the official declaration! offcourse, with a makeover plan. anyways great going:cheers:

Is this a full fledged IBM campus like TCS and Wipro in Infopark or just a training centre?

Finally, the long wait is over. It took one year to make the official declaration! offcourse, with a makeover plan. anyways great going:cheers:

Finally, the long wait is over. It took one year to make the official declaration! offcourse, with a makeover plan. anyways great going:cheers:

Can you make it more clear?

News about Technology Innovation Zone

http://epaper.mathrubhumi.com/epaperimages/1592012/1592012-md-ek-3/3252125.JPG

News about IBM

http://epaper.mathrubhumi.com/epaperimages/1592012/1592012-md-ek-2/32343281.JPG

Is this going to create more job opportunities in IBM in Kochi?

News about IBM

http://epaper.mathrubhumi.com/epaperimages/1592012/1592012-md-ek-2/32343281.JPG

Can you make it more clear?

IBM had solid plans to start an SDC at Kochi for some time. There was space crunch at Infopark and then there was a series of issues ... feud and row over smartcity/ cybercity etc..thought we lost this. They could not seroed in a right place in Kochi i guess! Refer my post in 26 April 2011 at Infopark thread.
I believe innovation cannot happen without solid research and development.. A 100cr investment not required for a training lab in Kochi :nuts:...what's your say?:)

IBM had solid plans to start an SDC at Kochi for some time. There was space crunch at Infopark and then there was a series of issues ... feud and row over smartcity/ cybercity etc..thought we lost this. They could not seroed in a right place in Kochi i guess! Refer my post in 26 April 2011 at Infopark thread.
I believe innovation cannot happen without solid research and development.. A 100cr investment not required for a training lab in Kochi :nuts:...what's your say?:)

What is it if not a training lab.
What do they do in the innovation centre?
I dont think RIM has not created any jobs yet.. They have not invested 100c also...
So whats IBM going to do in "Start up village" with this investment?

I just dont seem to understand many things:ohno:

Maybe they will start like what Wipro and TCS did in just one portion and then expand their campus once they get space and when the other IT parks like IP Phase II start full fledged construction. After that they might vacate Start Up Village. Same with Cognizant which started in Technopolis and now expanded to Athulya and now they are building a campus in IP Phase II

What is it if not a training lab.
What do they do in the innovation centre?
I dont think RIM has not created any jobs yet.. They have not invested 100c also...
So whats IBM going to do in "Start up village" with this investment?

I just dont seem to understand many things:ohno:

Kochi Startup Village to have 2,000 IT firms
(http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2012/09/18/155--Kochi-Startup-Village-to-have-2-000-IT-firms-.html)

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 18 (IANS) Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Tuesday said that in three years, 2,000 IT firms will be incubated at the Startup Village in Kochi, which has already opened.

Startup Village is India's first public private partnership model technology business incubator.

The promoters of Startup Village are Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, Technopark and MobME Wireless.

"They had approached us at the Emerging Kerala meet and requested one lakh square feet of built-up space. We decided to give then 25,000 sq ft in the first phase by May 13 next year and the rest 75,000 sq ft by January 2014. In three years there would be 2,000 IT firms that would be incubated there," said Chandy.

He added that this is a programme where fresh engineering graduates of engineering colleges or students can come up with bright ideas to make it a commercial venture.

"Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder and co-chairman of Infosys, is part of the people behind the Startup Village. Our aim is to turn bright young engineering professional into job creators, not job seekers," said Chandy.

The Village is equipped with 4G network, telecom labs, innovation zones, legal and intellectual property services, fully furnished offices and video conference rooms.

The Village provides a slew of incentives, such as a three-year service tax holiday and funding opportunities for tech start-ups.

What is it if not a training lab.
What do they do in the innovation centre?
I dont think RIM has not created any jobs yet.. They have not invested 100c also...
So whats IBM going to do in "Start up village" with this investment?

I just dont seem to understand many things:ohno:


Even I m not able to understand the numbers here..100 Cr from IBM..100 Cr from RIM.....This concep is a bit confusing for me..May be some expert can explain it

^^
When approached the startup village 2-3 months back, they told us that they are unable to incubate any new firms now because of space crunch. instead, they are runinng virtual incubation program, where you would be incubated and given the address of start up village but no space.

^^
When approached the startup village 2-3 months back, they told us that they are unable to incubate any new firms now because of space crunch. instead, they are runinng virtual incubation program, where you would be incubated and given the address of start up village but no space.

Thats Strange...Why cant they build a 3-5L SQFT Structure ...Coz it has attracted some of the big names in the industry.

^^they have a big building (the building which you see in most of the start up village pics) but it was no where near ready that time. I dont know the status now. Recently, in the movie "Run baby Run" that building was shown as the office of "bharatvision channel". So I assume ,its not completed yet. One good news is that, 100s of companies are waiting on the wings to start incubation.

^^they have a big building (the building which you see in most of the start up village pics) but it was no where near ready that time. I dont know the status now. Recently, in the movie "Run baby Run" that building was shown as the office of "bharatvision channel". So I assume ,its not completed yet. One good news is that, 100s of companies are waiting on the wings to start incubation.

The building was ready long back...its used as Biotechnology park...

Kochi, where future lies for the entrepreneurs (http://origin-www.livemint.com/Industry/LOhGr57iCXw1kVs7YsKRKO/Startup-Village-mentoring-future-software-entrepreneurs.html)

http://origin-www.livemint.com/rw/LiveMint/Period1/2012/09/21/Photos/VS2--621x414.jpg

Kalamassery in Kochi is known for its chemical and fertilizer factories (or what remains of them), but it is in this incongruous setting that student start-up incubator Startup Village has chosen to locate its office.

Physically, it’s hard to miss the glass-and-steel building standing amid the lush green foliage abutting the highway that connects the city to its international airport, although, at first sight it looks more like a holiday resort than the office of a company that aims to create 1,000 software product companies in India in 10 years.

You read that right, 1,000 in 10.

And you read that right too: software product companies.

There’s also a subsidiary objective: to create India’s first billion-dollar firm founded on a college campus.

Inside the building (which is actually not very big), a narrow corridor flanked by life-size portraits of Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Sean Parker and Mark Zuckerberg leads to four dining halls. Each hall has several long tables. And around each are huddled students who want to be entrepreneurs. One hall also sports a portrait of Infosys Ltd co-founder S. ‘Kris’ Gopalakrishnan, arguably the most famous man from Kerala in technology, and a message from him: “We started Infosys in a room of about this size; it’s your turn now.”
Gopalakrishnan is a mentor of Startup Village, a technology incubator promoted by India’s department of science and technology and Technopark Trivandrum that follows Silicon Valley’s Y Combinator model. Y Combinator is a Silicon Valley-based start-up accelerator founded by Paul Graham that has turned unknown coders into geek-celebrities by offering seed funding of around $18,000 (around Rs.10 lakh) on an average, apart from helping them connect with potential investors. Dropbox, Scribd and reddit are among the around 300 companies funded by Y Combinator. Their average valuation? A neat $224 million.

And the holiday resort (fine, budget holiday resort) look isn’t out of place because students will live and work out of the incubator while their start-ups take shape. “I am hoping to create an environment that subsidizes cost of living for these youngsters, gives them a place to eat, work, sleep and create the next Internet companies,” said Freeman Murray, a Silicon Valley veteran and founder of Internet music firm Kendara, who will relocate to Startup Village next week and help the incubator create the Valley culture among student entrepreneurs.

“We are attempting to build an environment where failure is not seen as something negative, but is a learning opportunity. They (the students) all push each other, they all learn from each other,” said Gopalakrishnan.
Since March, when Startup Village was launched, over 250 students from engineering colleges across Kerala who want to be entrepreneurs have applied with their ideas. In October, they will compete for a spot in what aims to become the country’s hottest launchpad for software product firms. For years, India’s $100 billion software outsourcing industry has become more famous for code writing and maintenance projects, with only a handful of home-grown technology product companies (they contributed $1.8 billion in revenue to the total during 2011-2012).

Those selected after rounds of interviews will receive funding of anywhere between $10,000-30,000 to help them start up. They will also get an opportunity to be mentored by successful chief executive officers (CEOs). In return, Startup Village will pick a nominal 6% stake in their companies.
The entrepreneurs will have to raise subsequent rounds to grow their companies.

“Traditional VC (venture capital) money is chasing very elite people who have been successful entrepreneurs in India—I feel there is a great opportunity to make this happen with younger people,” said Murray, who will be Dumbledore to this Hogwarts for start-ups.

The idea came to the founders of MobMe, a start-up founded in 2007 by students of Trivandrum’s College of Engineering. The firm started off orchestrating mobile campaigns for Malayalam films. Today, it works with telcos such as Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s largest, and will close 2012-13 with Rs.33 crore in revenue.

The founders approached Gopalakrishnan, who liked the story. “That’s what prompted the thought of creating a space where these students can come, experiment and create companies while studying. We are not saying that you should be a dropout; in fact, you shouldn’t,” he said.

And MobMe is a good example for students who want to start a firm. “Our early struggle to scale the idea, finding people who would invest, and later getting business from top clients showed it’s possible,” said Sijo Kuruvilla George, CEO of Startup Village and one of the co-founders of MobMe.
Money and space, apart, Startup Village’s real attractions will likely be its mentors.

Y Combinator brings together the biggest names in the US technology industry such as Gmail creator Paul Buccheit twice a year to help mentor selected start-ups.

Startup Village plans to do the same, but is still hunting for some instantly recognizable global names who can serve as mentors.

“Y Combinator has this strong mentoring access, which is missing here right now. We will need that as some of these companies reach the next stage from idea to some kind of a product,” said Gopalakrishnan.

Apart from Gopalakrishnan, the incubator has managed to sign up MindTree CEO Krishnakumar Natarajan, chairman of the Nasscom product forum Sharad Sharma, and investors such as Sasha Mirchandani of Kae Capital and Nishant Verman of Canaan Partners as mentors.

Nasscom’s Sharma, who ran Yahoo India’s research centre until March 2009, said mentoring could help more student start-ups survive. “In the early days of the accelerator, one needs to establish the operating routines that deliver high quality. Only once that’s in place, should one scale—premature scaling can hurt quality,” he said.

“Globally, it has been noticed that large business ideas like Facebook have came from students. An incubator is a great start and with mentors of proven track record, its credibility can go high. We are looking at investing in Startup Village,” said Mirchandani.

He added that incubators can not only nudge students to start early, but also advise and encourage them to take the plunge when doubts crop up.
To be sure, Startup Village will not be the first attempt to foster entrepreneurship among students. The Wadhwani Foundation-funded National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) runs entrepreneurship cells on 470 campuses across India, although it doesn’t invest in the firms.

K. Srikrishna, executive director of NEN, said his organization focuses on creating entrepreneurs—both students and experienced professionals. Last year, some 270 student entrepreneurs came from the NEN network; this year, he expects to help around 400 student start-ups take shape.

“It’s not really competitive (with other incubators), we do this at a much larger scale and the thrust is on sustaining these entrepreneurs,” Srikrishna said. “We run the world’s largest entrepreneurial education network.”

Startup Village’s unique approach may find favour with potential investors who otherwise have to put student start-ups they like through the paces themselves.

Indeed, it’s possible that Startup Village’s efforts also expands the universe of entrepreneurs because of its focus on engineering students.

The state government seems to have also done its part by announcing a new policy that offers student entrepreneurs 4% weightage in grades (if the total is 100, student entrepreneurs start from 4, while everyone else starts from 0) and 20% in attendance. Successful start-ups also get a three-year tax holiday. “If you are a student and fail early, you are not risking your family or any other thing,” said Gopalakrishnan, arguing that it is better to start young.
Already, over a dozen startups, including MindHelix, a mobile application development firm, and WowMakers, an Internet design studio, operate out of Startup Village and hope to make the October cut.

Kallidil Kalidasan, 23, who founded MindHelix along with two other batchmates in December 2010, is now hoping to take his company to the next stage at Startup Village. “Raising money for a product start-up is quite tough in India. With mentors like Kris and potential investors, Startup Village looks to fill that gap,” he said.

The incubator, itself funded by the department of science and technology, and angel investors such as Kris and MobMe (to the tune of Rs.5 crore), is, in turn, raising a fund of around Rs.10 crore to fund the start-ups it selects.
Some of these, it is convinced, will become successful product firms. Gopalakrishnan is betting that 20 of the 1,000 firms coming out of the incubator will have a chance of becoming the Infosys of the software products business in India.

The building was ready long back...its used as Biotechnology park...

its the startup village building isnt it? if it is ready, why they are still facing space crunch? or why is this building used for biotech park?

It is the other way around. Building was originally made for Biotech park, and later a portion is taken to start the Startup Village.

http://www.mathrubhumi.com/business/news_articles/startup-village-sets-to-become-largest-telecom-incubator-in-the-world-304053.html


http://imageshack.us/a/img844/2341/03031431408.jpg


Startup village sets to become largest telecom incubator in the world :banana::cheers::banana:

Government is planning to invest 100 crore to construct 100,000 sqft building

World's largest telecom campus in Kerala developed by Startup Village (http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/BIZ-NEWS-startup-village-to-now-become-the-worlds-largest-telecom-project-incubator-3823487-NOR.html)
http://i6.dainikbhaskar.com/thumbnail/636x303/web2images/www.dailybhaskar.com/2012/09/22/5932_startup_village_building.jpg

After the success of the recently concluded 'Emerging Kerala Global Investors' meet, which spelled a bright looking future for the Indian Telecom Industry, Startup Village has now put in its claim to developing the world's largest telecom incubator, where entrepreneurship and innovative technology can be developed through various sponsored projects. This initiative effectively puts Kerala on the world map of technology and student built global products, which were earlier restricted to being a highlight of American corporates only. In order for the innovations to turn to reality, infrastructure will be developed as the 100,000 sqft campus, which is stated to carry an investment of Rs 100 crores for development and functionality. Unlike most projects backed by the government, where project management remains slack, strict deadlines have been dished out regarding the building of the campus; 25,000 sq ft by May 12, 2013, and the remaining 75,000 sq ft by January 12, 2014.

Chief Minister Ooman Chandy who was present at the Investors' meet, spoke about the project and his government's initiative to develop technology innovations within the state through students. He said, "This will make the Startup Village the world’s largest telecom incubator. We will further strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem to accelerate this transformation by providing infrastructure in the form of a TIZ (Technology Innovation Zone) in about 10 acres of land in Kochi with an initial investment of Rs. 100 crores."

Lauding the government’s support, Mr. Sanjay Vijayakumar, Chairperson of Governing Board of Startup Village, said it would give a huge fillip to the state for tapping its vast human resource potential. The various waves of computing like personal computer revolution in the 1970s and ’80s saw the emergence of Apple and Microsoft. The Internet revolution spurred the birth of companies like Yahoo and Google. During the social networking revolution, global giant Facebook was born.

“The key link between all these companies was that the founders of these companies were college students,” said Mr. Vijayakumar, who is also the CEO of MobME Wireless Solutions (P) Ltd. “It's a known fact that out of the Nasscom Top 10 Emerge Product Companies, four have founders from Kerala. Startup Village received over 250 applications in the last five months since its inauguration by Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan. It is now trending to cross 900-1200 applications in the next 9-12 months showing the underlying surge for entrepreneurship in Kerala college campuses,” he said.

The PPP model experiment by Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, is now taking a major upswing with the state government actively stepping in to aim at a global scale. Both governments have stressed that they would limit their role to a facilitator, creating the right foundation and policies and leaving it to industry experts like Mr. Gopalakrishnan to create the framework for the startup ecosystem. TIZ is proposed to host more initiatives like the Startup Village on a PPP mode in other technology areas and verticals in Telecom, Data Analytics, Animation and Gaming, VLSI, Nanotechnology and Biotechnology. The zone will provide space at a low cost to the startup companies, which would have to pay only the operational cost. Government will manage the infrastructure and the innovator units will have 100% operational freedom to pursue their novel ideas and graduate into independent businesses.

Startup Village sets eyes on becoming largest telecom incubator (http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/kochi/5540-startup-village-sets-eyes-on-becoming-largest-telecom-incubator)
Enthused by a tremendous response from the State government at the just-concluded Emerging Kerala global investors’ meet, Startup Village has now scaled up its ambitions to become the world’s largest telecom incubator while Kerala is set to break into global products space with a soon-to-be-announced Student Entrepreneurship Policy.

Unlike other announcements at the mega event, the one for Startup Village came with specific timelines with first 25,000 sq ft by May 12, 2013 and the remaining 75,000 sq ft by January 12, 2014.

“This will make the Startup Village the world’s largest telecom incubator. We will further strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem to accelerate this transformation by providing infrastructure in the form of a TIZ (Technology Innovation Zone) in about 10 acres of land in Kochi with an initial investment of Rs. 100 crores,’’ Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy had announced at the meet.

The CM also assured to put in place ‘a landmark Student Entrepreneurship Policy’ within 30 days, showing his government’s commitment to encourage entrepreneurs at the college level itself. The policy provides 20% attendance and 4% grace marks to students engaged in entrepreneurship during their study.

Lauding the government’s support, Sanjay Vijayakumar, Chairperson of Governing Board of Startup Village, said it would give a huge fillip to the state for tapping its vast human resource potential. Startup Village received over 250 applications in the last five months. It is now trending to cross 900-1200 applications in the next 9-12 months showing the underlying surge for entrepreneurship in Kerala college campuses.

TIZ is proposed to host more initiatives like the Startup Village on a PPP mode in other technology areas and verticals in Telecom, Data Analytics, Animation and Gaming, VLSI, Nanotechnology and Biotechnology. The zone will provide space at a low cost to the start-up companies, which would have to pay only the operational cost. Government will manage the infrastructure and the innovator units will have 100% operational freedom to pursue their novel ideas and graduate into independent businesses.

It is the other way around. Building was originally made for Biotech park, and later a portion is taken to start the Startup Village.

Never knew. Thanks!!:)

How Startup Village plans to tap 1,000 tech innovators (http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-interview-startup-village-plans-to-tap-1000-tech-innovators/20120927.htm)

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It's raining innovators across college campuses in Kerala. Bringing to the limelight some of the brilliant ideas and innovative projects from campuses is a unique initiative by Startup Village, India's first telecom incubator.

Promoted by the Department of Science and Technology, Technopark Trivandrum and founders of MobME Wireless with Kris, co-founder of Infosys as the chief mentor, the initiative, has launched an ambitious talent hunt.

This initiative plans to groom a billion dollar company from a college campus by the turn of this decade. Startup Village, which received more than 200 applications in just four months, has shortlisted 6 innovative projects for incubation.

"Startup Village is our small way of contributing back to the startup ecosystem that has given us so much and to help spawn the next 1000 tech startups in India and start the search for a billion dollar campus startup," says Sijo Kuruvilla George, CEO, Startup Village.

Lamenting over the inability of India's education system to 'inspire innovative thinking', Startup Village attempts to build confidence among students to build on their innovative ideas.

"The curriculum and the present academic setup do not spark imagination and creativity," points out Sijo Kuruvila.

Startup Village covered 164 engineering colleges in Kerala in its pursuit of unique ideas that can be transformed into real solutions.

Besides partial funding, Startup Village will also provide a slew of perks like platform to incubate the idea and an opportunity to showcase the projects before Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan.

Sijo Kuruvila reveals Startup Village's ambitious plans to tap innovators and entrepreneurs from the student community to herald an innovation culture among students in India...

We also present the top 6 innovative projects, selected by Startup Village for further tech and financial support.

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What was the idea behind starting Startup Village? Are you looking at projects only from Kerala?

Every startup needs a lot of support in the early days when everything is so vague, ideas are aplenty and the founder(s) just have an idea and the only capital being the fire he carries in his belly.

When we (the founders of MobME) started our entrepreneurial journey at an age of 21, it was something not really common in our country but over five years, we've grown, with the support of a lot of people in the ecosystem, to become one of India's top 10 Emerging IT companies.

We have not set definitive boundaries in terms of location, we look for innovative and inspired initiatives. It is open to entrepreneurs across India.

1,000 product startups over 10 years: Is this a realistic goal? How will this become a reality?

Yes of course, it is a very realistic goal. We have received more than 200 applicants in just four months. We also are in the planning stages of a few initiatives which would systematically bring about these numbers.

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How was the response from students in terms of submitting projects?

Startup Village aims to incubate 1,000 product startups over 10 years and has started the search for a billion dollar company from a college campus by turn of this decade. We have received a very positive response from the young entrepreneur community, we have received more than 200 applications and about 60 of them are incubated.

We have also initiated a campus connect program by which we plan to form a network among the various college campuses, and also making them aware of the Startup Village organisation and inspire innovation and entrepreneurship among the youth.

How many projects did you scrutinise? How was the evaluation done?

As part of the IEEE - Startup Village Student Project Program, we had received over 500 applications of which we shortlisted 25. These 25 applicants made a presentation at Startup Village. After this, the final projects were selected.

The selection was done by a 5-member panel comprising of representatives on behalf of IEEE, Startup Village and MobME.

What do you think about the quality of ideas?

We see a huge untapped potential in the various projects by the startups. With the right guidance and mentoring we are quite confident that these startups can turn out to be big enterprises in the future.

And more strikingly, more than the quality of the ideas, the quality of the talent is what really impressed us. All ideas start small and keep evolving over time and it's the entrepreneurial DNA that makes all the difference.

Can these shortlisted projects be converted into viable, profitable ventures?

Yes, the innovative ideas that the startups have come up with shows great commercial promise and this is where the role of the incubator comes into play.

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How long will it take for these products to hit the market?

The startups are at various stages in the development process of their projects. Some are even registered companies with several products out in the market whereas some are just starting out and require more time to bring out their respective finished projects.

What kind of support does Startup Village offer these students?

Startup Village aims to bring four key elements needed for a robust tech startup ecosystem at scale for the first time in India with the following pillars under one umbrella.

1. A policy change in the education system where students in engineering colleges who pursue entrepreneurship get the current benefits that is being extended to sports or NCC. This in Kerala is 20% attendance and 4% marks in the University exams.

2. An incubator which functions as an idea nursery.

a) Hard infrastructure - This includes physical space, power, security, work stations, canteen, conference rooms etc.

b) Soft infrastructure - This includes computers, servers, leased line internet, Wi-Fi, Printer, Scanner, Fax, Phone Lines, Photocopiers, Credit Card Facility, Virtual Office services like receptionist, Mail Box address etc.

c) Support infrastructure - This includes CAs, Lawyers, IPR Consultants, PR Consultants, Mentors etc.

d) Technology infrastructure - This are key technology infrastructure that are supplied to the incubator companies in partnership with technology partners.

3. An accelerator which provides minimum capital and specific support required for the promising ideas that come from the incubator.

4. An angel fund, which can invest in the high growth startups.

With respect to the IEEE - Startup Village Student Project Program, we will be extending financial assistance, access to our device labs and technical mentoring

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How keen are students in Kerala to become entrepreneurs?

About 3 in 5 applications are from young student startups. There are more students exploring the startup route.

How innovative and intelligent are students in Kerala compared to other states?

We don't have an exact comparison to the other states, but I have to say that the talent and students in Kerala are uniquely poised to take advantage of the next growth wave in India; which we believe is the creation of a knowledge economy led by product companies.

Four out of the top 10 Nasscom emerging companies had founders from Kerala.

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Does our curriculum encourage students to be innovative?

We feel that the curriculum followed by the system of education in India is not updated at the pace which is demanded by the advances in science and technology.

The student community is not open to resources that are required to inspire innovative thinking.

Most strikingly, the curriculum and the present academic setup do not spark imagination and creativity.

Majority of students like to join corporates after engineering though they may have brilliant ideas to work on, how can we bring about a change in the mind-set of young students?

Ventures like Startup village promote the student to bring out their own innovative ideas and even provide the resources they require to do that, including technical assistance as well as mentoring. The key is to unlock the curiosity in the young minds.

And we have realized that exposure, both to markets and technology, is the magic portion. We aim to provide that in abundance at Startup Village.

Parental pressure is one of the issues. Since our parents are used to only getting jobs, it is difficult for them to imagine their children being job creators and not job seekers.

You have set an example with MobME. How is MobME doing? How has been the growth so far in terms of revenues, solutions offered?

MobME was born out of vision where we believed that it's time for being first generation entrepreneurs in our country, a path less trodden for the vast majority in our country.

The backing of media and society was extremely strong and after we took the plunge while being in college to start MobME. Today, there are 136 startups in Technopark Incubator in Thiruvanthapuram.

MobME is today rated as one of India's top 10 Emerging IT companies but we are excited to create ripples in the ecosystem that allows for more startups to grow and flourish.

With Startup Village, we now hope to hit the critical mass required to tilt the scale of innovation and build an awesome entrepreneurial ecosystem complete with a supportive education policy, an incubator (idea nursery), accelerator (help ideas which have either user or revenue traction) and angel fund (where you invest small amounts of money in return for single digit equity holdings and act more like a co-founder) thus creating an extremely entrepreneur friendly ecosystem that invites you to build, break and innovate.

What are the challenges you face?

While setting up Startup Village, India's largest incubation attempt, the scale of operation we envisioned for ourselves was colossal. In order to again the flexibility to pursue such an ambition, it is critical to have the right partners on board who understands this.

Gaining the support and guidance from the government of India, established industrialists, reputed corporate institutions, and key educational institutions, their startup ecosystems and media has assisted us to gain our current momentum and accelerate forward.

It was equally important for Startup Village to have the ideal talent pool for executing its action plan. At Startup Village, we are leveraging on the foundation laid by Technopark Incubator over last six years to accelerate the tech startup-ecosystem in Kerala, to achieve the mission for a 1000 product startups.

Do you feel Kerala has a conductive environment for entrepreneurship to flourish?

The people of Kerala from across academia, media, bureaucracy, business, political leadership have been supportive of the Technopark Incubator since its start in 2006.

This has resulted in creation of a great foundation over the last six years by networking a vast majority of engineering colleges in Kerala.

Kerala is also 100% literate, has near 100% tele-density high IT literacy and access to broadband making it an apt state to setup a telecom incubator.

Further, Kerala is home to MobME Wireless and we're indebted to the support and faith that the above cross-section placed in us when we started off as one of the first campus startups in India.

What are your plans in terms of promoting innovation and entrepreneurship?

We strongly believe that innovation and entrepreneurship are critical for growth. In order to strengthen the ecosystem, we need to reach out to future innovators from as early as 9th standard. Through our campus connect initiative, we plan to expose the young minds to view developments in science and technology. We hope to broaden their perspective and instill interest in entrepreneurship.

We will try our best to create technology entrepreneurs in our state to see the 'Dawn of a Silicon Coast' in India.

Sijo Kuruvilla George

Bright youngsters with tech ideas find the perfect incubator in the warm, cheery environs of Startup Village, in Kochi, led by an equally young and passionate team.

To meet Sijo Kuruvilla George and his team, and see the facility they have created for bright youngsters with great tech ideas at the Startup Village in Kochi, is like ingesting a huge dose of oxygen, optimism, hope and cheer — all in a heady mix. The enthusiasm of the young CEO, all of 29 years, is infectious as he talks about the dreams of “young kids hacking away at their machines; that’s how product companies start!”

He and seven other young professionals have created 5,000 sq ft of cheerful space in lush-green environs. Appropriately named Startup Village, this incubator for young entrepreneurs was set up in April with a corpus fund of Rs 5 crore — Rs 2.5 crore of this is a grant from the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and the other half is from MobMe, a company that George had earlier co-founded with his basketball teammates at engineering college in Thiruvananthapuram.

MobMe story

Having “been there and done it all”, George understands the dilemma and bewilderment of youngsters — most of them college students — who are brimming with “crazy ideas”, but find little sympathy or support at college or home. “When you are a nobody with just an idea, who writes the first cheque of Rs 5-10 lakh? Nobody,” he smiles, adding, “We (MobMe) were fortunate to get an angel investor when we were still in college. And we want to help others get such help.”

In a telling comment on our education system, he says, “We know nothing much happens in college. We’ve been through four years of engineering — it is just paid vacation in the first year. The second year you want to reform the world; by third year, you say abhi toh kuch honeywala nahi hei [nothing is going to happen now], so let’s get a job, a life.”

When the company kicked off, “I was the oldie, and the only one who had graduated. Sanjay (Vijaykumar, CEO of MobMe and Chairman of the incubator) was still in college; and running a company when in college is considered a bit of a crime. Teachers ask you, ‘Are you here to study or run a company?’”

Basketball gave them attendance and got them out of boring classes to do interesting things. They have now convinced the Kerala government that college kids who get into a DST-approved incubator like Startup Village should get attendance waiver, like NCC cadets, as they create both jobs and wealth.

With help from some professors — “we did not understand technology or coding” — they jumped in. Their initial yearly target was Rs 3 lakh, but a mentor at the Trivandrum Technopark (MobMe was the first student initiative to be incubated here) said they should aim for Rs 1 crore. “After a lot of debate we said we’ll do Rs 10 lakh.”

That was six years ago. Today it is a Rs 25-crore company with 150 employees, and George has left it to co-found another enterprise — a not-for-profit entity. Their angel investor, an NRI, wrote a cheque for Rs 80 lakh for the students’ startup in 2006. “He later told us: ‘I didn’t understand a word of what you said, but I saw my youth in you guys and wanted you to do well’.”

Colourful, cheerful

We walk around the facility, which is divided into zones with bright colours. There is an open, free area with colourful beanbags, tables and chairs, some gizmos, gadgets and tech-tools, including shiny cars that can be driven by BlackBerry phones. Backpacks lay strewn around the place. A couple of youngsters were slouched on beanbags, others bent over laptops, furiously clicking away. Most of them are students — many come around 6 p.m. after college, work till 3 a.m., and crash out here till 6 a.m., as no transport is available. That day, 70 youngsters were absorbed in doing different things.

George introduces us to Rohil Dev, a young geek working on gesture technology. “He said, ‘What I created nobody understood, so I came here’.” He explains how he could do things, such as change a song on the laptop, by moving his fingers in front of the screen. “The Web camera on his laptop captures his movements and does things. Dev has done this entirely on his own,” says George.

So Dev was given space, technical infrastructure and the environment to take his ideas forward. Now he is building a mobile game which is sensor-based. “We talk about touch, but now it is movement. He’s just graduated, been here for a month, and not yet decided on the product.”

That very morning, another young man walked into the Village, along with a girl. “When they write in the air with their finger, the computer senses the characters… so they are taking to the next level what the movement guy has done,” says George.

Gender-friendly

So, are more girls coming forward with tech ideas? George admits that of the 211 applications they’ve received, very few are from women — and says social conditioning is the villain. There are signs of change, though. Recently, among a group of engineering students, “the woman was leading the charge and said this was her childhood dream. So things are changing.”

George Paul, Director, Partner Networks, says the company wants to be seen as a “female-friendly incubator. We have a special women entrepreneur cell, and the brightest colours you see here are picked by women! The next step will be to get more women to work in startup companies.”

A core component of the Startup Village, which is a not-for-profit enterprise, is the ‘accelerator’. Every year, 10 promising companies will be put on accelerated programmes, which will give them three months’ capital and close mentoring through icons such as Infosys’s Kris Gopalakrishnan, who is already a patron.

Future plans

George and his team now need more space. Apart from an angel investment fund, money is needed to provide greater access to technology. “Till you saw broadband and video streaming in full flow, could you have imagined an idea called YouTube? You need full exposure to top-class technology to conceive your ideas with full force. Hence, we have experience zones — like the cars driven by BlackBerry. For great innovation to happen you have to kick-start curiosity first.”

In their next project, final-year engineering students will get a box with gadgets, and will have to run through things such as filing a partnership deed, and managing a current account. Having lived the experience, the team knows too well how difficult it is to get the paperwork in place. “After all, these are technocrats and just out of college. They need handholding, a broader worldview, and mentoring.” There are also regular sessions on fund raising, taxes, and so on.

The target for the angel fund is Rs 10 crore. “We want investors who are not looking for 200 per cent return, but want the guy to grow.” Their dream is to graduate 1,000 companies in 10 years. If the Trivandrum Technopark incubator, started in 2006 at a time when such a concept was unknown in Kerala, could graduate 126 companies in five years, “we can do five times that number in half the time,” says George, as the groundwork is already in place.

He is confident his young and energetic team can do it. “After all, isn’t 24-year-old Deepak Ravindran (see box) already investing in companies? And not because he wants multiple returns but he wants to see change. And so do we.”

Sijospeak

We don’t judge ideas — when we look back, the idea we had was dumb; it would have never worked. We know that now with so much knowledge about the market. But when we dived in, we learnt how and why it wouldn’t work — and what would work. We wanted to create a small desktop application to send SMSes. That changed, but we’re still keeping that product, as it is close to our hearts. Slowly, we learnt the technology (MobMe provides core network wireless solutions to send SMS).

If you want to become an entrepreneur, be prepared to set aside three to five years to bring the idea to life. Unless you go to the market you won’t know what will work or what won’t, because you’re talking of a product and not a service company. We ask: Is the guy willing to do it; has he the “doing” rather than “debating” skill; is he willing to learn and adapt?

Would anybody have thought Wikipedia would work? That is how crazy ideas are — nobody knows what will work! But the entrepreneur is a resourceful guy; he has vision and can create something out of nothing.

Does an entrepreneur have to be brainy? No, but he should have the talent to execute and implement. And it’s teamwork. Individuals don’t create huge success; it’s always a team, because it brings diverse competences to the table. We give this advice on Day 1: Overturn all hurdles till you find success. So, team dynamics — chalo yaar, let’s bum it out kind of a thing — is important.

Why would we give up high-paying jobs to do this? Because we want to make a contribution. In my peer community, those who took up jobs have quit, and said, ‘We want to do something more’. Take the case of Deepak Ravindran, founder and CEO of Innoz. He is only 24 — he has a 10,000 sq ft office in Bangalore, is clocking Rs 2 crore in revenue a month, going strong and has now turned an investor. He has been named 2011’s MIT Technology Review outstanding innovator under 35. He started Innoz while in engineering college in Kasaragod, Kerala, and wasn’t even able to pay the Technopark incubator rent — about Rs 6,000 a month — for the first three years.

Ravindran is yet to graduate, has 27 papers pending, and his dream is that one day, because of his success, some university will grant him a degree! He invests in startups not because he wants multiple returns on his money, but because he wants to see the system change.

rasheeda.bhagat@thehindu.co.in
The Hindu BL

Biggest Hackathon Held in Startup Village (http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=777229)
Scores of new applications and services were developed by techno geeks from college campuses during a 30-hour coding spree at telecom technology hub Startup Village in the biggest ever hackathon held in Kerala.

Hosted by Bangalore-based Innoz Technologies, the developer of mobile search engine 55444, the hackathon featured 65 students who were given a brief and the space to give free reign to their imagination.

A 'hackthon' is typically a fun gathering of programmers and developers who put their heads together to create usable software for specific platforms.

The Innoz hackathon at Startup Village resulted in apps including a search service for 55444 and another app that enables users to log out from all the systems they are logged into Facebook on, a press release said.

The event kicked off at 9 am in the morning on Saturday and continued until 4 pm on Sunday. After a brief presentation on 55444, the student participants were given high-speed broadband access and a space of their own in the Startup campus, complete with creature comforts including beanbags and energy drinks.

"Startup Village will be hosting more of these hackathons in the days to come," said CEO Sijo Kuruvila George.

By actively connecting the student community to the technology industry, these events will help us in the search for the billion dollar company to rise out of a college campus, by the end of the decade, he said.

RIM to tie up with 100 colleges in Kerala this year (http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/rim-to-tie-up100-colleges-in-kerala-this-year/189721/on)
BlackBerry (BB) maker, Research In Motion (RIM), is eyeing to associate with around 100 colleges in Kerala under its BlackBerry BASE (BlackBerry Apps by Student Entrepreneurs) initiative this year.

BlackBerry has started a BlackBerry Innovation Centre in association with Kerala-based Startup Village at Rubus Labs to help and engage engineering students in Kerala to develop applications for BlackBerry, Annie Mathew, head (alliances and developer relations), RIM India, said.

"We have entered partnership with five colleges and we have plans to tie-up with around 100 educational institutes in Kerala within a years' time," she added.

BlackBerry invites students to come with innovative mobile application ideas and to develop the apps with technical support from its team. The training sessions will be conducted across 126 engineering colleges in Kerala under the BlackBerry BASE programme.

RIM had started this initiative last year in Tamil Nadu on a pilot basis with more than 800 students. "Last year, we have received a good response. Of the total apps developed, we have accepted 30 applications. We have plans to ramp up this initiative to other states in the coming years," she said.

RIM today showcased its latest technology and applications on BlackBerry platform deployed at SkyPark Café in Hyderabad, making it India’s first Near Field Communications (NFC) café powered by BlackBerry. The cafe is powered by BlackBerry smartphones, PlayBook tablets and NFC-based applications.

RIM has also plans to associate with more than 100,000 registered developers to create innovative and user-friendly applications by 2014.

"Our developers' ecosystem is growing significantly. Part of the reason is that our team is being able to guide and mentor the developers and we also work closely with a certain set of partners to get the latest in technology to them. We are bringing the best technology partners to churn out best applications in India,” she had told Business Standard earlier.

Research In Motion kick starts BASE campaign in Kerala (http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/kochi/5571-research-in-motion-kick-starts-base-campaign-in-kerala)
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Kochi: Research In Motion has initiated the BASE (BlackBerry Apps by Student Entrepreneurs) campaign in Kerala. Aimed at educating and expanding the developer base, BASE empowers students with all that is needed to marry technology and creativity and test their entrepreneurial spirit through the BlackBerry App World. Through this initiative RIM would aim at supporting skilled student with an entrepreneurial mindset to create innovative apps for the BlackBerry platform.

With several successful campaigns under this initiative capturing students from across 45 colleges, the BASE initiative has now been inaugurated in several colleges in Kerala in partnership with the Rubus Lab situated at the Kochi based Start up Village. Starting October 3, 2012, the BASE initiative was rolled out in College Of Engineering, Trivandrum; Government Engineering College, Thrissur; Model College of Engineering, Kochi; College of Engineering, Chengannur and Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Kottayam.

Annie Mathew, Head of Alliance, Research In Motion India highlighted, “BASE is an initiative to enable students to use the BlackBerry App World and bring their ideas to life on the mobile platform. We have targeted third and fourth year engineering students to help them create apps for BlackBerry and get further trained through the BlackBerry academic programme.”

BASE aims to create awareness about the BlackBerry Developer Zone, App World, BlackBerry Academic Program, BlackBerry devices and RIM as an organization.

Research In Motion (RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, revolutionized the mobile industry with the introduction of the BlackBerry® solution in 1999. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America.

'Startup Village' launches online education platform to upload ‘voiced-content’ (http://techcircle.vccircle.com/500/kerala-startup-launches-online-education-platform-to-upload-%E2%80%98voiced-content%E2%80%99/)
Kochi’s Startup Village based Verbicio Tech LLP (http://www.verbicio.com/) has launched an online tutorial platform that enables students to access and upload educational materials free of cost.

The educational platform, Exam Voice, also enables users having a Facebook account to upload content in slides, PPT or PDF formats along with image and voice to make learning process easier.

“This is basically a platform for students by students,” Verbicio co-founder Midhun Sankar told Techcircle.in. “Here, the user can upload content in his own voice and interpretation and share it with friends who can access it for free,” he added.

Using this platform, a student can access content related to specific exams, such as CAT, GRE, GATE on topics related to science, engineering and aptitude. The platform also enables students to access solved papers of previous years, topic-wise questions and vocabulary building. Exam Voice can be accessed on smartphones or PCs connected to the internet.

According to Sankar, who founded Verbicio with his friends Bibin George Varghese, Joel Varghese, Nakul E Sibiraj and Midhun KS – all below the age of 25 and of different colleges in Kerala – last October, this platform also provides students with an opportunity to ‘earn while learn’ by uploading content.

As of now Verbicio is not looking to generate big revenue. “We will display advertisement of companies with whom we will have a revenue-sharing agreement, depending on the traffic coming to the website,” Sankar added.

The startup is now scouting for funds to develop and scale up its flagship product and is already in talks with a leading angel fund. “We are planning to raise around Rs 20 lakh. We will use the amount to improve the offering and scale the business,” Sankar said.

Sankar said that the idea of an education platform took shape at one of his seminar presentations during college days. “After each presentation, the teacher had to go through the project of each and every student. This prompted me to think of launching a common platform for the teacher to access PPT presentation on a single platform. Hence Exam Voice.”

Founded in last October, it took the startup almost two years and spent Rs 2 lakh to develop the platform. Exam Voice, which employs nine staffers including the founders, now hopes to become one of the leading search engines in India in two-three years’ time.

“The specialty of our platform is that we have taken the concept of slide sharing to the next level. It means the user can also hear the explanation of the answers, besides viewing them,” Sankar added.

Verbicio is in the process of uploading more content on the site. It is equipping itself for a small scale rollout in Kerala’s professional and degree colleges as well as schools. As part of the marketing plans, it is also organising programmes in educational institutions across Kerala.

HTML5 & Web Technologies workshop at Kochi on Nov 03 (http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/kochi/5574-html5-a-web-technologies-workshop-at-kochi-on-nov-03)
Bridge India, a Dutch owned IT services company, in association with Startup Village, is organising a one day workshop on ‘HTML5 and Upcoming Web Technologies’ on November 03, 2012 at Kochi. The event is being touted as a great opportunity for developers to learn from Shwetank Dixit, a Web Evangelist from Opera Software in India.

Shwetank is co-steering Opera’s ‘Open the Web’ Site Compatibility project, which involves working with the biggest web properties in the world and ensuring compatibility and advising better coding methodologies. He is also part of the W3C Mobile Web for Social Development Group. His interviews, thoughts and articles have been published in various publications like PCQuest, The Hindu, Times of India, .Net Magazine, DevOpera, Electronics4U and DeveloperFusion, among others. He is also involved in evangelism of Open web standards, particularly in South Asia and represents Opera Software in various events, seminars and conferences.

HTML5 - Clearing the hype and looking at the origins; Introduction to HTML5 web forms and new semantic elements; What’s new in CSS3?; Introduction to SVG and Canvas, Offline Storage; Advanced JS : Geolocation, Device Orientation, Webcam access and Extending the browser, are some of the sessions being planned for the day.

According to Wikipedia, HTML5 is a markup language for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web, and is a core technology of the Internet originally proposed by Opera Software. It is the fifth revision of the HTML standard created in 1990 and standardized as HTML4 as of 1997 and, as of October 2012, is still under development. Its core aims have been to improve the language with support for the latest multimedia while keeping it easily readable by humans and consistently understood by computers and devices (web browsers, parsers, etc.).

I dont know how many of you know about the hundreds & thousands of startups in Bangalore that run in tiny little offices/studio apartments.
Kerala was very behind in that aspect till now.

I really feel Startup Village is the next best thing that could happen to Kerala after Technopark.

Kerala was far behind because our conservative society is not ready to take risks. Read in business manorama yesterday

I dont know how many of you know about the hundreds & thousands of startups in Bangalore that run in tiny little offices/studio apartments.
Kerala was very behind in that aspect till now.

I really feel Startup Village is the next best thing that could happen to Kerala after Technopark.

Conservative society and business has got nothing to do with each other. And people in Kerala aren't bad in business either. The only thing we lack is a industrial friendly environment.

not only in bangalore but also in chennai, hyd etc... kerala is really behind all these places for startup companies because kerala is not industry friendly...



I dont know how many of you know about the hundreds & thousands of startups in Bangalore that run in tiny little offices/studio apartments.
Kerala was very behind in that aspect till now.

I really feel Startup Village is the next best thing that could happen to Kerala after Technopark.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/426250_164061897051134_758326447_n.jpg

Great. Good things happening in Kochi:banana:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/426250_164061897051134_758326447_n.jpg

Student team from Kerala wins BlackBerry JamHack (http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/kochi/5589-aircel-introduces-3g-dongle-value-pack-in-kerala)
http://keralaitnews.com/images/resized/images/stories/kitn/hackj_200_200.jpg

Kochi: A group of young technophiles from Kerala are flying to Bangkok next month for a global hackathon competition after claiming first prize in the BlackBerry JamHack held in Bangalore by telecom giant Research in Motion in association with technology incubator Startup Village. Jibin Jose, Anoop Nayak, Nithin George and Bijin Abraham make up the winning Qedge team.

The team which developed the prize winning ‘Story Board’ - an innovative application that provides a novel way of showcasing presentations using BlackBerry mobile phones. The quartet, representing Hangout India, will take part in the BlackBerry Jam Asia 2012 in Bangkok on November 29-30, competing against international teams in the Asia-Pacific Finals.

The JamHack at Bangalore involved 40-hours of non-stop coding, from 7 pm on October 12 to 12 noon on October 14, at the offices of Innoz Technologies. It featured teams from all over India, including 32 students from Kerala.

“We love hearing and telling stories. So we thought of creating an app which will convert a boring conventional presentation into a story-telling experience,” said Qedge’s Nithin George. “My team is proud to have created this product and to have survived 40-hours of coding. We dedicate our success to Startup Village and its CEO Sijo Kuruvila George for inspiring entrepreneurship in us.”

Startup’s CEO hoped the team’s win will encourage more students from college campuses to create and innovate. “It is wonderful to see college students thinking out of the box and taking on challenges like these. We are seeing the next generation of entrepreneurs at work here,” said Sijo.

Bangalore is among 10 cities in the Asia-Pacific region to host the BlackBerry JamHack. Besides advancing to the Asia Pacific Finals, winning teams in each city get BlackBerry devices and RIM’s consultancy to develop their apps further. Teams making it to the finals in Bangkok will be vying for a prize pot that includes cash award, a chance to be at the much-anticipated global launch of BlackBerry 10 and RIM’s support for marketing their apps.

http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/kochi/5615-ibm-collaborates-with-startup-village-for-skills-development

IBM collaborates with Startup Village for skills development

Kochi: IT major IBM and Kochi based Startup village has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to equip engineering students and young professionals with knowledge and skills which will better position them in today’s dynamic IT industry. The collaboration will also help them build business solutions that address the issues enterprise customers are facing in the Smarter Planet industries.

As a part of this MoU, IBM will help students at Startup village to attain industry-ready skills through its Career Education and Academic Initiative programme. Career Education courses are designed to develop the right skills and nurture basic competencies that are demanded by the industry. The courses offered include skills on Information Management using IBM DB2, Software Quality management, Cloud Computing, Enterprise Mobile Application Development using IBM Worklight, Embedded Systems development using IBM Rational Rhapsody and more.

Along with this, students will also undergo experiential learning programs through Career Education Projects and take part in The Great Mind Challenge (TGMC) contest, the largest technological contest certified by the Limca Book of Records. TGMC is an academic initiative that supports, guides, and challenges students to be industry ready and have hands on skills on software development.

With this collaboration IBM, by its Academic Initiative programme, will provide relevant IBM Software free of cost that will be used for training & enablement purposes for students & faculty members of various Engineering colleges in Kerala.

“We are pleased to partner with Startup Village in Kerala, under IBM’s Career Education, Academic Initiative and GEP Program. The aim is to provide for life-long learning, skills development, career and workforce training concurrently enabling young generations to create world-class products for the enterprise businesses”, says Karthik Padmanabhan, Country Manager - ISV & Developer Relations, IBM India.

Commenting on the collaboration with IBM, Sijo Kuruvilla George, CEO, Startup Village said, “We have found that there are lots of talented youngsters in our engineering colleges, but are left handicapped without the latest technology solutions. The IBM support will definitely ignite their innovative talent and thereby enhance the human capital which a prime mover in any eco-system. We are sure this would lead to a whole new culture of product-based thinking and catalyse innovations of the future”.

Oracle to train Kerala engineering students
(http://india.nydailynews.com/business/1eb7ff1f7d7522c414230438e8ba9f4e/oracle-to-train-kerala-engineering-students)


Kochi, Oct 30 ( IANS) Oracle India and Startup Village here have joined hands to train more than 30,000 students and 200 teachers in over 100 engineering colleges in Kerala in Java programming language, according to the state IT department.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect will be signed on Nov 2 here.

Oracle will provide the curriculum, training of faculty and access to a secure online learning environment for students to develop programming and database design.

The Startup Village, located at Kinfra Hi-Tech Park, has been set up jointly by the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) and the Kerala government-run Technopark, in collaboration with MobME wireless.

Entrepreneurial school to come up in Start-Up Village (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/US-investor-sets-up-startup-school-in-Kochi/articleshow/17123071.cms)

KOCHI: Freeman Murray, an angel investor from the US, plans to set up a startup school for young entrepreneurs in collaboration with Startup Village. The school will be in the campus of the Kochi-based telecom incubator.

"The school would enroll 100 students initially for a six-month course, of which four months will be devoted to residential class at the Startup Village campus from which the brighter ones with better ideas and entrepreneurship skills would be selected for the final two month course," said Murray. Preference would be given to those with better communication skill with a good command over English which, he said, is essential to succeed in this sector.

"This is a real opportunity in India," Murray commented on the pro-entrepreneurship policy of the state government while talking to "The Startup School is a large-scale initiative to help young first time entrepreneurs in India launch successful Internet companies. It is going to be a full-time residential programme. It will also review online classes students can participate in to improve their startup skills," Murray told reporters in Kochi on Tuesday.

"It's a great time to start a technology company. The internet has made it possible for smart people everywhere to create products and earn money online," observed Murray, who had been working with startups for the past 15 years in India and the US. "I am setting up this programme in Kerala to help young people who are interested in technology and entrepreneurship to start technology companies," he added.

Murray had earlier run an incubation programme at IIM Ahmedabad and set up a large art and technology space called Jaaga.in. in Bengaluru. Since 2000, he has been an active angel investor for over 20 companies in the US and India.

Murray, who has worked with the original Java group at Sun Microsystems, founded his own technology company Kendara Inc, and sold it two years later to Excite@Home for $120 million.

StartupVillage for Expansion

Startup Village, India’s first telecom incubator that has already grown big with swelling number of student entrepreneurs is all set to spread its wings by the space too. Inching further close to its ambitious target of having a one lakh sq. ft. campus by 2014 in its search for billion-dollar ventures from campuses, Startup Village today got an additional space of 10,000 sq. ft.

http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/kochi/5661-cm-inaugurates-expansion-of-startup-village-at-kochi

StartupVillage for Expansion

Startup Village, India’s first telecom incubator that has already grown big with swelling number of student entrepreneurs is all set to spread its wings by the space too. Inching further close to its ambitious target of having a one lakh sq. ft. campus by 2014 in its search for billion-dollar ventures from campuses, Startup Village today got an additional space of 10,000 sq. ft.

http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/kochi/5661-cm-inaugurates-expansion-of-startup-village-at-kochi
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/5014/60398510152264039395693.jpg

http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/mmonline.dll/portal/ep/malayalamContentView.do?articleType=Malayalam+News&contentId=12842380&contentType=EDITORIAL&BV_ID=@@@

Startup village seems like one of the best things to have happened to Kochi...
Actually I dont remember anything covered in news when this was planned or when the construction was going on...
Anyone know when was this planned or whose idea it was and when was the construction started?

Indeed this is one of the best thing to happen in kochi...
Rather than wasting money on smart city...we shud scale up this to create more self going people...
Great going....

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/startup-village-gets-chandys-backing/article4105041.ece

Chief Minister opens space of 10,000 sq ft for the telecom incubator

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday offered all possible support to the fledgling Startup Village at Kinfra Park in Kalamassery and said the government attached top priority to resolving the issues of budding companies in the village, which is the first telecom incubator in the country.

Mr. Chandy, who threw open an additional space of 10,000 sq ft to the expanding incubator that fosters student entrepreneurship, said the government would deliver on the promise of granting one-lakh sq ft space to the village by 2014 in a staggered fashion. The government planned to raise the working space in Startup Village to 25,000 sq ft by May 12 next year and finish work on the remaining 75,000 sq ft by January 12, 2014, he said.

Innovation zones

The new premises will house five different innovation zones by as many companies, including giants like Blackberry, IBM, Oracle and KPMG.

Commending the incubator for imbibing the spirit of global investor meet ‘Emerging Kerala’, Mr. Chandy said with its youth becoming job creators, the State was poised to emerge from within.

He said the roadmap for Startup Village received more clarity with ‘Emerging Kerala’, as it was at the insistence of the team behind the incubator that the State brought in the landmark ‘Student Entrepreneurship Policy’.

Setting a deadline of 10 days for the Village to present before the government the problems faced by individual start-up units, Mr. Chandy said the government would examine these issues and despatch a team of officials to the village within 30 days to address them. Further, a select team of five people from the village would be sent to Silicon Valley to learn more about its ecosystem for nurturing entrepreneurship.

Sanjay Vijayakumar, chairman of the incubator, gave an outline of the growth and momentum achieved by the village during its first six months. Quoting its chief mentor Kris Gopalakrishnan, he said that it aimed at carving out at least one billion dollar company from Kerala. “As of now, we have a total of 359 applicants, a chunk of whom will soon become incubated companies at the village,” he said.

Hibi Eden, MLA, who attended Friday’s event, termed the Student Entrepreneurship Policy a revolutionary decision and said the freedom granted by the government to the youth would augur well for the State’s IT growth in future. “That’s the biggest investment made by the government,” he noted.

The village already housed 68 incubated firms in an area of 5,000 sq ft.

The new four-floor building leased from Kinfra could facilitate operation of at least 300 companies, Startup Village CEO Sijo Geroge Kuruvila informed in a media note.

Later, Startup Village, in a press release said that Mr. Chandy informed them of the government’s decision to grant the venture 25 cents of land at Kinfra Park for in view of the village’s future development needs.

Keywords: Startup Village, telecom incubator, Kinfra Park, Emerging Kerala

Startup Village team will tour Silicon Valley: Chandy

A five-member team will be selected from Startup Village and sent to Silicon Valley in the US to get a first hand knowledge about start up incubators, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said. He was speaking after inaugurating the 10,000 sq ft building of Startup Village at Kinfra Park, Kalamassery on Friday.

The startup is modelled on the technology incubators in the Silicon Valley. The government would give utmost priority to the requirements of the Village as the concept would turn job seekers into job creators.

The success of the venture is a need of the state as it would benefit the coming generation. The government has launched the Student Entrepreneurship Scheme which guarantees 20 per cent attendance and four per cent grace mark for student entrepreneurs in universities, colleges and polytechnics in the state.

The Chief Minister switched on the high speed internet connectivity of one GBPS at the new building. It is for the first time that one GBPS internet connectivity is being made available anywhere in India, according to Village sources.

Already the startup firms have incubated in 5,000 sqft space. The space would be extended to 25,000 sq ft by May next year and the remaining 75,000 sq ft of the 1 lakh sqft promised would also be made available, Chandy said. He also offered 25 cents of land for the Startup Village to meet its future needs.

The six innovation zones in the new building will house many companies, including Blackberry, IBM, Oracle and KPMG. Another six firms can set up innovation zones, said Startup Village CEO Sijo Kuruvila and chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar.

Hibi Eden MLA, Technopark CEO Girish Babu, Infopark CEO Baju George and Kinfra Park MD Ramnath were also present.

http://newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/article1342731.ece

Kerala CM inaugurates 10,000-sq ft premises of Startup Village (http://indiaeducationdiary.in/Shownews.asp?newsid=16913)
http://indiaeducationdiary.in/image11/11.jpg

Kochi: Startup Village, India’s first telecom incubator that has already grown big with swelling number of student entrepreneurs, is all set to spread its wings by the space too.

Inching further close to its ambitious target of having a one-lakh-sq-ft campus by 2014 in its search for billion-dollar ventures from campuses, Startup Village on Friday got an additional space of 10,000 sq ft.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy ,who formally opened the new building for the Startup Village at the KINFRA Hi-Tech Park near here, said the Government was giving greater importance to the demands and requirements of the Startup village in view of the fact that this technology hub would be a major centre providing larger employment opportunities. He also offered 25 cents of land for the Startup village at the Kinfra park to meet its future needs. After listening to the needs and requirements from the student entrepreneurs, he assured them that the government would send a five member student team from Startup Village to Silicon Valley as part of gaining global exposure to them.

Later, he switched on the high speed internet connectivity of one GBPS at the new 10,000 sq.ft. building allotted to Startup Village. This the first time that one GBPS internet connectivity is being made available anywhere in India, it was announced at the function. To speedup activities at the startup village, Mr Chandy asked its management to submit a detailed report on its immediate needs and requirements within 10 days based on which a high level governmental team would visit the startup village to sort out its problems, adding that the needs of Startup village is actually of the state itself and therefore it would given highest priority, he added.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by Mr Hibi Eden, MLA, who also spoke of the high priority the government was extending to the technology hub. Senior executives, including Technopark CEO Mr Girish Babu, Inforpark CEO Baju George and KINFRA MD, Mr Ramnath, among others were also present on the occasion.

Startup village which began functioning in April this year as a joint initiative between the Department of Science and Technology under the Government of India, Technopark Trivandrum and MobME Wireless.

Its status as the country’s first public-private partnership model technology business incubator had got further boost a month ago when the state government launched a much-awaited Student Entrepreneurship Scheme.

The scheme, which guarantees 20 per cent attendance and four per cent grace mark for student entrepreneurs in universities, colleges and polytechnics in the state, has lent momentum to the filing of applications with the Startup Village, according to Mr. Sanjay Vijayakumar, Chairman of the Startup Village which has Infosys Co-Founder Kris Gopalakrishnan as the Chief Mentor.

“As of now, we have a total of 359 applicants, a chunk of whom will soon become incubated companies at the Village,” revealed Mr. Vijayakumar, who is also CEO of MobME, a mobile internet company, also based in Kochi.

The new building will house six different innovation zones by as many companies, including giants like Blackberry, IBM, Oracle and KPMG who have already partnered with Startup Village, he said. “Another six firms will be able to set up innovation zones with this additional space. It will give further boost to entrepreneurs who build start-ups on top of these technologies,” he added.

Mr Sijo George Kuruvila, Chief Executive Officer of Startup Village, informed that the campus already housed 68 incubated firms in an area of 5,000 sq ft, and that the new four-floor building, leased out by KINFRA (Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation), can accommodate the operation of “250 to 300” companies.

“The interiors have been fully furnished. We did it in a month’s time,” he said. “The new companies can move in at the earliest. The premises will be fully functional within a week.”

Going by the pending applications, the space “is still insufficient”, Mr. Kuruvila said. “However, we believe that the basic foundation has now been laid.”

Its performance in the next five years will be crucial for the Startup Village, which aims to incubate 1,000 product start-ups by the turn of 2020. “We have to sustain the present positive trend; we are doing it. We are sure we can keep the word,” added the CEO, when pointed out that the state government’s schedule was to raise the working space in Startup Village to 25,000 sq ft by May 12 next year, and finish work on the remaining 75,000 sq ft by January 12, 2014.

The Student Entrepreneurship Scheme, about which the Chief Minister first revealed at the September 12-14 Emerging Kerala global investors’ meet in Kochi, has led to an encouraging spurt in the inflow of applications at the Startup Village, he added.

American major Nuance (http://www.nuance.com/) to setup Innovation Zone in Startup Village

Muthoot Papachan group & Choice group has set up their innovation zones in the new building.
കൊച്ചി സ്റ്റാർട്അപ് വില്ലേജിലേക്ക് യുഎസ് കമ്പനി ന്യുവാൻസ് (http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/malayalamContentView.do?contentId=12842380&programId=1073753761&channelId=-1073751706&BV_ID=@@@)

കൊച്ചി: പൊതു സ്വകാര്യ പങ്കാളിത്തത്തോടെയുള്ള ഇന്ത്യയിലെ ആദ്യ ടെലികോം ഇൻകുബേറ്റർ 'സ്റ്റാർട്അപ് വില്ലേജിൽ ഇന്നവേഷൻ സോൺ ആരംഭിക്കാൻ അമേരിക്കൻ കമ്പനി ന്യുവാൻസ് എത്തുന്നു.

സംരംഭം 50 ദിവസത്തിനുള്ളിൽ ആരംഭിക്കാനാണു വില്ലേജ് അധികൃതർ ആലോചിക്കുന്നത്. ഇതു സംബന്ധിച്ചുള്ള ചർച്ചകൾ എല്ലാം പൂർത്തിയായതായി ചെയർമാൻ സഞ്ജയ് വിജയകുമാർ പറഞ്ഞു.

ഫോണുകളിലും ആപ്ളിക്കേഷനുകളിലും ഉപഭോക്താവിന്റെ ശബ്ദം തിരിച്ചറിയാനുള്ള വോയിസ് റെക്കഗ്നിഷൻ സോഫ്റ്റ്വെയറുകൾ നിർമിക്കുന്ന ലോകത്തെ പ്രധാന കമ്പനികളിലൊന്നാണ് ന്യൂവാൻസ്. പ്രതിവർഷം 112 കോടി ഡോളർ വിറ്റുവരവുള്ള ന്യൂവാൻസിന്റെ വരവ് പ്രതീക്ഷയോടെയാണു സ്റ്റാർട്അപ് അധികൃതർ കാണുന്നത്.

ഏതാനും മാസങ്ങൾക്കുള്ളിൽ ലോകത്തെ നാലു പ്രമുഖ കമ്പനികൾ കൂടി സ്റ്റാർട്അപ് വില്ലേജിൽ എത്തിയേക്കും. ഇതു സംബന്ധിച്ച് അധികൃതരും കമ്പനികളുമായി ചർച്ചകൾ തുടരുകയാണ്.

സ്റ്റാർട്അപ് വില്ലേജിൽ നിലവിൽ ഇന്നവേഷൻ സോണുള്ള ബ്ളാക്ക്ബെറിയുടെ നേതൃത്വത്തിൽ ബാങ്കോക്കിൽ നടക്കുന്ന മെഗാ ഹാക്കത്തണിൽ വില്ലേജിലെ ഇൻകുബേറ്റഡ് കമ്പനികളിൽ നിന്നുള്ള അംഗങ്ങൾ പങ്കെടുക്കുന്നുണ്ട്.

സ്റ്റാർട്അപ് വില്ലേജ് പുതുതായി ആരംഭിച്ച കെട്ടിടത്തിൽ സജ്ജീകരിച്ചിട്ടുള്ള മുത്തൂറ്റ് പാപ്പച്ചൻ ഗ്രൂപ്പിന്റെ ഇന്നവേഷൻ സോണും ചോയ്സ് ഗ്രൂപ്പിന്റെ ഇന്നവേഷൻ സ്കൂളും ഉടൻ പ്രവർത്തനം ആരംഭിക്കുമെന്നും അധികൃതർ പറഞ്ഞു.

ഇരുമ്പു റാക്കുകളില്* കൊച്ചിയില്* കെട്ടിടമുയരുന്നു


കൊച്ചി: വീടുകളില്* പുസ്തകഷെല്*ഫായും പാത്രങ്ങള്* അടുക്കിവയ്ക്കാനുള്ള ഇടമായും ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്ന ഇരുമ്പുറാക്കുകള്* ഉപയോഗിച്ച് കെട്ടിടം ഉയരുന്നു. വിദേശത്തല്ല, കൊച്ചിയിലാണ് ഈ കെട്ടിടം.

സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട് അപ്പ് വില്ലേജുകളുടെ തലതൊട്ടപ്പനായ ഫ്രീമാന്* മുറെയാണ് കെട്ടിടത്തിന്റെ ശില്പി. കളമശ്ശേരി കിന്*ഫ്ര ഹൈടെക്ക് പാര്*ക്കില്* സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട് അപ്പ് വില്ലേജിനായി ലഭിച്ച സ്ഥലത്ത് ഉയരുന്ന സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട് അപ്പ് സ്*കൂള്* പൂര്*ണമായും ഇത്തരം റാക്കുകളിലാകും. അടുത്തയാഴ്ച നിര്*മാണം തുടങ്ങും. ഒരുമാസം കൊണ്ട് പൂര്*ത്തിയാക്കുകയാണ് ലക്ഷ്യം. കേരളത്തിലാദ്യമായാണ് ഇത്തരമൊരു കെട്ടിടം വരുന്നത്.
10000സ്*ക്വയര്*ഫീറ്റിനും 12000സ്*ക്വയര്*ഫീറ്റിനുമിടയിലായിരിക്കും കെട്ടിടത്തിന്റെ വിസ്തീര്*ണം. ക്ലാസ്സ്മുറികള്*, ലാബ്, കഫറ്റേരിയ, ഡോര്*മിറ്ററി എന്നിവ ഉണ്ടാകും. 15 ലക്ഷമാണ് ചെലവ് കണക്കാക്കുന്നത്. നാലുനിലകളാകും സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട് അപ്പ് സ്*കൂളിനുണ്ടാകുക. ഓരോന്നിനും എട്ടടിയാണ് ഉയരം. മൂന്നടിനീളമുള്ള കോണ്*ക്രീറ്റ് സ്ലാബുകളിലാണ് അടിത്തറ. തറയും മേല്*ക്കൂരയും അലൂമിനിയവും പ്ലൈവുഡും ഉപയോഗിച്ചാണ് നിര്*മിക്കുന്നത്. ലോഹം കൊണ്ടോ ചെളികൊണ്ടോ ആയിരിക്കും ഭിത്തികള്*.

വിവരസാങ്കേതികതയുടെ താഴ്*വരയായ സിലിക്കണ്*വാലിയില്*നിന്നുള്ള ഫ്രീമാന്* മുറെ ഇരുമ്പുറാക്കുകളില്* വിസ്മയക്കൂടാരങ്ങള്* ഉയര്*ത്തുന്നത് ആദ്യമായല്ല. ബാംഗ്ലൂരിലെ ജാഗ എന്ന കലാകേന്ദ്രത്തില്* റാക് ട്രിക്കാണ് മുറെ പ്രയോഗിച്ചത്. ലോകമെങ്ങുമുള്ള കലാകാരന്മാര്*ക്ക് ഒത്തുകൂടാനൊരിടം എന്ന നിലയ്ക്കാണ് ജാഗ രൂപകല്പന ചെയ്തത്. വിദേശത്ത് റാക്കുകള്* ഉപയോഗിച്ച് കെട്ടിടനിര്*മാണം പതിവാണ്.

റാക്കുകളുപയോഗിച്ചുള്ള കെട്ടിടനിര്*മാണം തന്റെ ആശയമല്ലെന്ന് മുറെ പറയുന്നു. ഒരേസമയം പരസ്ഥിതിക്കിണങ്ങുന്നതും ചെലവുകുറഞ്ഞതുമായ പകരം സംവിധാനങ്ങള്* കെട്ടിട നിര്*മാണത്തിനായി കണ്ടെത്തുകയെന്നതാണ് മുറേയുടെ ആത്യന്തിക ലക്ഷ്യം.

ഫ്രീമാന്* മുറെ; ഇന്*റര്*നെറ്റ് സങ്കേതങ്ങളുടെയും ശില്പി

കൊച്ചി: റാക്കുകളില്* കെട്ടിടം പണിതു തുടങ്ങും മുമ്പേ തന്നെ ഫ്രീമാന്* മുറെ ലോകത്തിന് പരിചിതനായിരുന്നു. അതിനൂതനമായ ഇന്*റര്*നെറ്റ് സങ്കേതങ്ങള്* വികസിപ്പിക്കുന്നതിലൂടെയാണ് മുറെ ലോകശ്രദ്ധ നേടിയത്. ഈ അമേരിക്കന്* സംരംഭകനെ 1995 ല്* സണ്* മൈക്രോ സിസ്റ്റം എന്ന ആഗോള സാങ്കേതിക കമ്പനിയിലെത്തുന്നതോടെയാണ് ലോകമറിഞ്ഞു തുടങ്ങിയത്.

സണ്ണില്* ജാവാ സെര്*വര്* പ്രൊജക്ടുമായി പ്രവര്*ത്തിച്ച ഫ്രീമാന്* 1999 ല്* കേന്ദാര ഡോട്ട് കോം എന്ന വെബ്*സൈറ്റ് സ്ഥാപിച്ചു. ബ്രൗസ് ചെയ്ത് പേജുകളെക്കുറിച്ച് ഉപയോക്താക്കള്*ക്ക് ചര്*ച്ചകള്* വരെ സാധ്യമായിരുന്ന സൈറ്റായിരുന്നു ഇത്. ഇന്*റര്*നെറ്റ് സാങ്കേതികതയോടുള്ള അടങ്ങാത്ത സ്*നേഹം അദ്ദേഹത്തെ ലോസ്അഞ്ചലീസിലെത്തിച്ചു.

2005 ല്* ഇന്ത്യന്* സംസ്*കാരത്തില്* അകൃഷ്ടനായ അദ്ദേഹം ബംഗ്ലൂരിലെത്തി. അങ്ങനെയാണ് ബാംഗ്ലൂരില്* ഇന്ത്യക്കാരിയായ അര്*ച്ചന പ്രസാദിനൊപ്പം ജാഗാ ഡോട്ട് ഇന്* എന്ന സംരംഭത്തില്* സഹസ്ഥാപകനാവുന്നത്. ഇന്ത്യയിലെ വിവിധ സംസ്ഥാനങ്ങളെ കുറിച്ച് പഠിച്ച ശേഷമാണ് കേരളത്തിലെ നിക്ഷേപ സാധ്യതയെക്കുറിച്ച് മുറെ തിരിച്ചറിയുന്നത്. സംരംഭകത്വത്തില്* കേരളത്തിനുള്ള ക്ഷമത തിരിച്ചറിഞ്ഞ അദ്ദേഹം സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട് അപ്പ് സ്*കൂള്* എന്ന പദ്ധതി കൊച്ചിയിലെ സ്റ്റാര്*ട്ട് അപ്പ് വില്ലേജിന്റെ സഹായത്തോടെ ആവിഷ്*കരിക്കാനൊരുങ്ങുകയാണ്.http://www.mathrubhumi.com/story.php?id=318016

Start up village is really a milestone in Kochi's development

The construction of this building in kinfra hi-tech park totally made of iron racks will start next week; their target is to finish the construction in just 1 month

This building will be the first of its kind in kerala(made of iron racks)

total cost-15 lakhs

space- 10,000 sq ft

freeman muray- shilpi

Source: mathrubhumi

Parkinson's research zone soon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An innovation zone for research in Parkinson's disease will be commissioned at the Startup Village in Kochi in a month.

Startup Village chief executive officer Sanjay Vijayakumar said Infosys would provide the software modelling support for the zone while medical college hospitals would offer reseach backing and Muthoot Group the funding. "The zone will offer technology solutions through advanced computerized 3D modeling technology to the neurological disorder, characterised by muscle rigidity affecting movement, speech and posture," he said.

Kinfra managing director S Ramnath said this would be one of the incubator facilities at the village. "We will act as catalysts by providing land and infrastructure facilities at 50% of the market rate to startups for up to four years. By that time, the young entrepreneurs are expected to mature." As a startup in the proposed innovation zone, a team of final-year engineering students of College of Engineering Thiruvananthapuram -- Solutions to all differences (Stad) -- has designed a thin glove integrated with lightweight and strong titanium links for Parkinson's patients to prevent their hands from shivering when they try to hold something.

They will release the prototype in December, following which they plan an improvised version.

"The glove will aid in easy control with twist lock mechanics at the wrist. It can be operated by the person who wears it by locking it when holding something and unlocking it to release," team leader Sebin Thankachan said.

A patent application has been filed for the glove. The other team members are Gokul Sreenivas, Ginto D, Hameem C Hamza, Haseel V, Salah Gafoor and Krishnaraj Nair.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/Parkinsons-research-zone-soon/articleshow/17327903.cms

Start-up village becomes World's second place to be connected by 1 Gbps connectivity. (http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/NAT-IRS-worlds-2nd-1gbps-connection-arrives-in-india-4093666-NOR.html)

Its going lightening fast:banana::banana::banana:

Imagine downloading an entire 2-hour movie in just undeer half a minute, or watching all your favorite youtube videos without even the slightest hitch! Well, though these are conceivable with 3G connections, but when speeds go as high as 1 Gbps on a net connection, things go into a different league.

The Startup Village in Kerala, which is the world's largest technology incubator, will now be the host to a 1Gbps bandwidth internet connection, only the 2nd in the world after Kansas City, United States. What makes this development significant, is that it was very recently that the US got the first gigabyte per second connection, and India has followed suit within a short time. Communication technology will sure go places in the region setting a wave of developments.

The facility was formally introduced on November 17 by Kerala Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy, giving a shot in the arm to Startup Village for its mission to churn out world-class startups from Indian campuses. "We are not behind Silicon Valley. Our youngsters also are privy to the best available connectivity,’’ said Startup Village chairman Mr Sanjay Vijayakumar in a statement.

He also went on to add, "Startup Village aims to build the elements of a world class tech ecosystem to realize the dream of a Silicon Coast in India. The vision at this grandiose scale is driven by one of India's most successful IT entrepreneurs, Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys and powered by Dept of Science and Technology, Govt of India. The Startup Village at Kochi is the first location of this national pilot, which would be replicated to other parts of India in the coming months.’’

^^^^^^

Kochi also soon able to enjoy 1 Gbps speed connectivity

Download a two-hour high definition movie in 30 seconds or view a video in Youtube at lightning speed!

It is now possible at Kerala-based Startup Village, the India’s first telecom incubator, through its newly-laid 1 Gbps (gigabits per second) connectivity.

And Startup Village of Kochi became the second place in the world, after Kansas City of United States, to experience this ultra-fast connectivity that is all set to revolutions the internet experience of the netizens in the coming days.

By switching on the trend-setting connectivity within a few days after the leading US tech incubator had introduced the same, Startup Village has thus also taken a major leap forward to emerge as the largest telecom incubator in the world.

The facility was formally introduced on November 17 by Kerala Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy, giving a shot in the arm to Startup Village for its mission to churn out world-class startups from Indian campuses.

``We are not behind Silicon Valley. Our youngsters also are privy to the best available connectivity,’’ said Startup Village chairman Mr Sanjay Vijayakumar in a statement.

``Startup Village aims to build the elements of a world class tech ecosystem to realize the dream of a Silicon Coast in India. The vision at this grandiose scale is driven by one of India's most successful IT entrepreneurs, Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys and powered by Dept of Science and Technology, Govt of India. The Startup Village at Kochi is the first location of this national pilot, which would be replicated to other parts of India in the coming months,’’ he said.

``Apart from 100% teledensity and literacy, the submarine landing station at Kochi creates a perfect backdrop to try this ambitious pilot to effectively change the tech startup policies in India to be at par with Silicon Valley,’’ he said.

Internet giant Google launched 1Gbps (1000 mbps) at Startup Village, Kansas City, a leading tech incubator in US, culminating a two-year anticipation by the tech world, as part of the Google Fiber Network. The Google Fiber is rated as 100 times faster than the average American broadband speed.

India on its part was hoping to introduce the same by the mid 2013, with some companies activity moving to introduce it for the public use. But Kochi, which is a crucial as gateway of two submarine cables in the country, has thus became first city in the country to experience gigabit connectivity.

``The new connectivity comes as a milestone in our efforts to ensure the most conducive atmosphere of growth for the increasing number of incubatees. World-class infrastructure facilities will prompt the young companies to perform and meet the global competition,’’ said Startup Village CEO Sijo George Kuvilla.

1 Gbps connectivity coincided with the physical expansion of Startup Village, giving a big boost to its ambitious scout for game-changing campus companies from India. It got an additional space of 10,000 sq ft, taking the total available space to 15,000 sq ft at the KINFRA Hi-Tech Park at Kalamassery.

Startup village which began functioning in April this year as a joint initiative between the Department of Science and Technology under the Government of India, Technopark Trivandrum and MobME Wireless.

In another fillip to Startup Village, Kerala also became the first state to launch the student Entrepreneruship policy to encourage over 2.5lac students in engineering and polytechnics to be entreprenuers by giving them 20% attendance and 4% grace marks.

http://indiaeducationdiary.in/Shownews.asp?newsid=17381

Start-up Village to get new facility too

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/374424_388590051220395_1780856809_n.jpg

Start-up Village to get new facility too
This is the new facility of the Startup Village, which was inaugurated recently.
Kerala CM inaugurates 10,000-sq ft premises of Startup Village (http://indiaeducationdiary.in/Shownews.asp?newsid=16913)

Kerala Startup Village becomes second place in world to introduce 1 Gbps
(http://www.telecomtiger.com/Infrastructure_fullstory.aspx?passfrom=topstory&storyid=16261&section=S220)

http://www.telecomtiger.com/images/Imageggl2e6f4b31-04fc-418e-b43d-7d4be0ad4a4e.jpg


Startup Village of Kochi has become the second place in the world, after Kansas City of United States to introduce 1 Gbps connectivity.

By switching on the trend-setting connectivity within a few days after the leading US tech incubator had introduced the same, Startup Village has thus also taken a major leap forward to emerge as the largest telecom incubator in the world.

The facility was formally introduced on November 17 by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, giving a shot in the arm to Startup Village for its mission to churn out world-class startups from Indian campuses.

``We are not behind Silicon Valley. Our youngsters also are privy to the best available connectivity,’’ said Startup Village chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar in a statement.

``Startup Village aims to build the elements of a world class tech ecosystem to realize the dream of a Silicon Coast in India. The vision at this grandiose scale is driven by one of India's most successful IT entrepreneurs, Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys and powered by Dept of Science and Technology, Govt of India.

The Startup Village at Kochi is the first location of this national pilot, which would be replicated to other parts of India in the coming months,’’ he said.

``Apart from 100% teledensity and literacy, the submarine landing station at Kochi creates a perfect backdrop to try this ambitious pilot to effectively change the tech startup policies in India to be at par with Silicon Valley,’’ he said.

Internet giant Google launched 1Gbps (1000 mbps) at Startup Village, Kansas City, a leading tech incubator in US, culminating a two-year anticipation by the tech world, as part of the Google Fiber Network. The Google Fiber is rated as 100 times faster than the average American broadband speed.

India on its part was hoping to introduce the same by the mid 2013, with some companies activity moving to introduce it for the public use. But Kochi, which is a crucial as gateway of two submarine cables in the country, has thus became first city in the country to experience gigabit connectivity.

``The new connectivity comes as a milestone in our efforts to ensure the most conducive atmosphere of growth for the increasing number of incubatees. World-class infrastructure facilities will prompt the young companies to perform and meet the global competition,’’ said Startup Village CEO Sijo George Kuvilla.

1 Gbps connectivity coincided with the physical expansion of Startup Village, giving a big boost to its ambitious scout for game-changing campus companies from India. It got an additional space of 10,000 sq ft, taking the total available space to 15,000 sq ft at the KINFRA Hi-Tech Park at Kalamassery.

Startup village which began functioning in April this year as a joint initiative between the Department of Science and Technology under the Government of India, Technopark Trivandrum and MobME Wireless.

In another fillip to Startup Village, Kerala also became the first state to launch the student Entrepreneruship policy to encourage over 2.5lac students in engineering and polytechnics to be entreprenuers by giving them 20% attendance and 4% grace marks.

Reuters covers Kochi Startup Village news!!!

India sets up seaside "village" to nurture start-ups

(Reuters) - Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Indian information technology giant Infosys (INFY.NS), stares out from a wall-to-wall poster in a modern office building near Kochi.

A caption reads: "We started Infosys in a room about this size; it's your turn now."

His message is directed at aspiring entrepreneurs at Startup Village, a state-of-the-art glass and steel edifice tucked in a green corner of the port city, who dream of creating the next billion-dollar tech giant.

But even three decades after Infosys, India's second-largest software service provider, was founded by middle-class engineers, the country has failed to create an enabling environment for first-generation entrepreneurs.

Startup Village wants to break the logjam by helping engineers develop 1,000 Internet and mobile companies in the next 10 years. It provides its members with office space, guidance and a chance to hobnob with the stars of the tech industry, including Gopalakrishnan, the project's chief mentor.

But critics say this may not even be the beginning of a game-changer unless India deals with a host of other impediments - from red tape to a lack of innovation and a dearth of investors - that are blocking entrepreneurship in Asia's third-largest economy.

India ranks 74th out of 79 nations in the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index, making it one of the worst places in the world to start a business.

A World Bank report says it is easier to start a business in violence-afflicted Pakistan or poverty-stricken Nepal than in their giant neighbour, where everything from getting electricity to credit is time-consuming and fraught with paperwork.

"Take Apple or take Google. If exactly the same company had been started in India, its prospects would have been very different," said Erkko Autio, chair in technology venturing and entrepreneurship at Imperial College, London. "Basically, it would have not reached the potential it has as a start-up."

GRAPHIC-Starting a business: r.reuters.com/dyw73t

Indian-born entrepreneurs have been enormously successful in the United States, where they have the highest number of tech-start-ups by any immigrant group. But India has not been able to build itself a community like Silicon Valley where there is easy access to equity, a pool of creative talent and first-world infrastructure.

"We were alone. We had no idea how to make a company, how to sell it ... We tried, failed, tried, failed," said Kallidil Kalidasan, a 23-year-old member who started a mobile app venture in Kerala two years ago and could not find a single investor.

He is now one of the entrepreneurs at Startup Village, and is working on a product that could help the government detect illegal abortions in a country plagued by female foeticide.

BARE NECESSITIES

The seven-month-old Startup Village provides would-be entrepreneurs with workspace at rents about a tenth of anywhere else in Kochi, computers, a high-speed Internet connection, legal and intellectual property services and access to high-profile investors.

The village is still to be completed, but 68 people, would-be entrepreneurs and their teams, have already taken up two buildings at the site.

Spread over 100,000 sq ft (9,250 sq m) - equivalent to 20 basketball courts - Startup Village will be completed in 2014. India has 120 other incubators, but they are mostly housed in academic institutions and have not drawn a strong network of advisers from the private sector.

Startup Village, the first such institution to be jointly funded by the government and private sector, has Gopalakrishnan as its chief promoter and has collaborations with companies such as BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM.TO) and IBM (IBM.N).

"One, the goal of this initiative is to create new companies and create jobs. Second, this will create new solutions and products," Gopalakrishnan told Reuters in an e-mail interview.

He is excited about creating an ecosystem for entrepreneurs in his home-state, Kerala, which is famous for its tropical coastline and backwaters. The Village team says it chose Kerala because costs are lower than New Delhi or Mumbai and it has 150 engineering colleges that can provide start-up enthusiasts.

But for some, Startup Village will not work because it does not provide the right environment for a budding tech start-up.

"What does an entrepreneur need besides money? They need strong support in terms of advice," said Mukund Mohan, who has founded and sold three Silicon Valley start-ups and is CEO-in-residence at the Microsoft Accelerator. The institution helps start-ups in Bangalore, the city most associated with India's software industry that is about 550 km (340 miles) north of Kochi.

"There are not that many entrepreneurs in India, and there are hardly any in Kerala who have the expertise to be able to build, scale and sell strong software companies," said Mohan. "If you have not been there and done that before, what advice will you give?"

But Bangalore has not been able to nurture a start-up culture of any significance either. It has many aspiring CEOs and optimistic financiers, but they are also struggling with a maze of regulations and half-hearted government support.

LACK OF INGENUITY

The newer start-ups in Bangalore or Kerala are eying products not services. Many bring ideas catering to the booming market of domestic online shoppers, like Flipkart, the nation's most heavily financed e-commerce company. But financial backers for such ventures are few and far between.

"We are a fixed-deposit country," said Rajesh Sawhney, founder of GSF Superangels that provides angel and seed funding to start-ups. "Our investors are risk-averse. They don't trust young people with their money."

Fewer than 150 start-ups are promoted by venture capital or angel investors annually in India. There are over 60,000 angel investments, made in the early stages of a start-up, alone per year in the United States, according to an Indian government report.

Experts believe India is handicapped by a lack of ingenuity. It ranks 64th on the Global Innovation Index, much below other BRICS nations. Indian graduates, largely trained in services, have difficulty innovating beyond that approach.

Barely 700 technology product startups are launched every year in India versus over 14,000 in the United States, according to the Microsoft Accelerator database.

For India's risk-averse middle-class, entrepreneurship is the last recourse of the unemployed.

"If you go to a function, and someone asks you where you are working, and if you don't say Infosys or Wipro (WIPR.NS), they say: 'Oh you did not get placement (for a job)'," said Startup Village member Sreekumar Ravi.

Ravi is working on creating an affordable multi-touch computing surface that could change the way people window shop in malls or place orders in restaurants.

Startup Village aims to pluck innovators from college campuses, and bring them into the fold after evaluating their business ideas. Many of its in-house entrepreneurs are in their mid-twenties.

But critics are sceptical if Startup Village would be able to launch the next Infosys in India - or even be successful in its goal of incubating 1,000 online companies.

"I will be thrilled if they do even a quarter of that number ... But do I think they will do more than 100? No." said Mohan from Microsoft Accelarator. "I mean I hope they succeed. But hope is not a strategy, hope is only a prayer." (Additional reporting by Mark Bergen in BANGALORE; Editing by Ross Colvin and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

BlackBerry offers internships at Startup Village (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/states/blackberry-offers-internships-at-startup-village/article4150960.ece)
Hangout India, Rubus Labs and BlackBerry India are jointly offering free internships for a period of 10 days at Startup Village, Kochi.

Hangout India is an official campus-connect programme of Startup Village based on entrepreneurship, development and design (EDD) concept.

OUTREACH PROGRAMME

It’s a bunch of coders and designers with an entrepreneurial skill, a spokesman said. Hangout India team had won the first prize in the BlackBerry Jam Hack held in Bangalore by Research in Motion.

It also conducts various students and talents outreach programmes and has local student community units in institutions which act as a link with the latter.

The internship ‘Winter@HOI’ starts from December 10 and is looking for developers with a fair knowledge in C, C++ or Java. Special preference will be given to those with knowledge about the BlackBerry SDK/NDK.

TWO PHASES

The programme will be conducted in two phases from December 10 to 20 and December 21 to January 1, 2013.

Best interns will get a chance to be the BlackBerry Student Partner. Cash incentives will also be given for each certified app developed. Interns will get free food and accommodation.

Aspirant developers can submit resumes at www.goo.gl/oJdKa before December 5. Details are available at www.hangoutindia.org/winter-at-hoi/ or from Shahul Hameed at 9495379530.

Muthoot Pappachan group Innovation Zone in Startup Village

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One of the early incubated startups of Startup Village, MindHelix Technologies (http://mindhelix.com/) becomes the first company from India to get selected for The Alchemist Enterprise Product Accelerator program (http://www.alchemistaccelerator.com/) in the United States
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Tuk Tuk meter creator MindHelix joins third batch of Alchemist Accelerator (http://techcircle.vccircle.com/500/tuk-tuk-meter-creator-mindhelix-joins-third-batch-of-alchemist-accelerator/)
MindHelix Technosol Pvt Ltd, a Kochi-based mobile applications startup, has found a place in the third batch of the Alchemist Accelerator programme starting on January 3, 2013. MindHelix, founded by Christin George, Kallidil Kalidasan and Thomas Antony, is the company that created the once popular Tuk Tuk Meter app, which is basically a virtual autorickshaw meter. The company has been incubated at Startup Village, Kochi.

Although MindHelix has developed three apps including an updated version of the original Tuk Tuk with dynamic GPS based auto-fare calculator, it has now pivoted to being a developer of enterprise customer interaction tool.

Kalidasan, COO MindHelix said, “We pitched our product, which is a customer interaction tool for enterprise built on the cloud. They liked the product and were excited about the fact that we already have paying customers in India and that we were already planning to get the product to the US market.”

The Alchemist Accelerator based in Menlo Park, San Francisco runs a programme for six months incubating 12 enterprise-centric startups. The programme allocates $30,000 in seed funding to each company and also provides these startups the opportunity to showcase their products to Fortune 100 companies in a session called Customer Summits, which happens five times during the programme.

Moreover mentors and guest lecturers like Sean Ellis from Dropbox, Peter Levine, CEO Xensource and Badgeville CEO Kris Duggan will educate these startups on fundraising, sales and marketing and even on understanding user metrics.

Accordingly, the six-month programme is broken into two parts, with the first round focussing on customer development and the next on product development. The accelerator’s first batch began on July 5 and the second on September 27, 2012.

The accelerator is an initiative started in July 2012 by Stanford lecturer Ravi Belani, who worked as an associate at venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) until May 2010. The USP of the Alchemist accelerator programme is that it is backed by the big venture capital names like SAP Ventures, DFJ, Khosla Ventures, USVP & Cisco in the seed funding programme.

JdvI0is_T1A

Building made up of Iron racks to come up in kinfra park
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BB Rubus labs, Startup Village

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Building made up of Iron racks to come up in kinfra park

Freeman Murray's Iron Rack building getting ready in Startup Village

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^^

Good to see top honcos helping in the civil works :)

Freeman Murray's Iron Rack building getting ready in Startup Village

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What exactly is the use of an iron rack building? can someone explain?

^^

What exactly is the use of a building? ;)

Pro's are much cheaper, easier and quicker to install and dismantle.

The construction of this building in kinfra hi-tech park totally made of iron racks will start next week; their target is to finish the construction in just 1 month

This building will be the first of its kind in kerala(made of iron racks)

total cost-15 lakhs

space- 10,000 sq ft

freeman muray- shilpi

Source: mathrubhumi

Met up with Freeman Murray on Tuesday at the start up village.the current structure is temporary.Main will be up after getting approvals.in designing stage with architects and structural engineers.i am doing my final yaer project based on this.so went and met up him.talked for about one hour.he is going back for Christmas and will be back by Jan so that main structure will be up within a month.



http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/3200/img9869y.jpg (http://img801.imageshack.us/i/img9869y.jpg/)
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This Cellphone Device could be your Guardian Angel (http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=158982)
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Kochi, Dec 24: Kochi-based MindHelix Technosol Pvt Ltd (http://mindhelix.com/) has successfully developed and launched a smartphone application for improving the security of users, the first such application ever to be launched.

The smartphone application, Sentinel, can call your friends and family in case of danger, and point them to your location. It works in multiple scenarios, and can function without being manually triggerred.

The intelligent application can send out alerts even if the attacker forcefully destroys the phone.

The application triggers an alert even if the user is not connected to the internet by sending an SMS with location to the server.

The alerts consist of the last known location, time and direction with tracking information to see live data from the phone and pinpoint the location of the phone.

"India called and we listened. We created Sentinel for empowering the people when they felt harassed or alone in a threatening situation. Now more than ever India needs a solution for improving personal security in daily life," said Christin Emmanuel George, co-founder & CEO of MindHelix Technosol Pvt. Ltd..

The application was created with urban users in mind and it depends on the availability of continuous cellular connectivity.

"Sentinel can improve personal security, but that is just one of the features. Senior citizens can alert their doctors; parents can ensure their children's security by using the device," Christin said.

MindHelix Technosol has created the Citizen Interaction/Feedback tool for Delhi Police, the Know Your Police Station initiative.

The company is based in the Startup Village here.

Kochi start-up catches US view (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/121231/news-businesstech/article/kochi-start-catches-us-view)
Kochi: MindHelix Technologies (http://mindhelix.com/), a company at the incubator Startup Village here, has been selected by US-based Alchemist Accelerator (http://www.alchemistaccelerator.com/) Programme for its enterprise product start-ups.


The company which had created the TukTuk meter, a GPS-based auto fare calculator, has been selected for its cloud computing-based customer interaction application.

Many investors, including multi-billion dollar investment firm Khosla Ventures and CISCO, back the Alchemist Accelera-tor, a MindHelix statement said.

“This is a proud moment for entrepreneurs from Kerala. MindHelix’s achievement clearly shows that Indian startups are truly global and can compete with the ones in the US,” said Startup Village chief mentor and Infosys executive co-chairman Kris Gopalakrishnan.

Accelerator based in San Francisco runs a program-me for six months incubating 12 enterprise-centric start-ups and MindHelix is the only international one in the group.

The programme allocates $30,000 in seed funding to each firm and also provides these startups the opportunity to showcase their products to Fortune 100 companies in the US.

Besides, mentors like Ravi Belani of Stanford University, Sean Ellis from Dropbox, Adam Pisoni of Yammer, Peter Levine of Xensource and Kris Duggan of Badgeville will educate these startups on fund-raising, sales and marketing and establishing their product in the US market.

The first implementation of the customer interaction application was done for Delhi Police, named ‘Know Your Police Station’, a public portal to help people connect with the police.

MindHelix has acquired customers in hospitality, banking sectors and also government agencies. The MindHelix team will be moving to US for the programme.

Finahub among top 10 start-ups to watch out for in 2013 (http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/kochi/5774-finahub-among-top-10-start-ups-to-watch-out-for-in-2013)
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Kochi: Finahub Internet Services LLP (http://finahub.com/), a start-up based out of the Startup Village in Kochi, has been chosen as one of the top 10 start-ups to watch out for in 2013. Finahub provides a SaaS (Software as a Service) customer management platform for retail broking firms in India. Their product, Kinship Platform, acts as the one place to go for managing all the customer interfacing activities of a retail broker. 20 start-ups under three categories were announced last week by Startup Village.

Giving away the certificates, Kris Gopalakrishanan, Infosys co-founder & Chief Mentor, Startup Village said, “We need our own Facebook and Google. The start-ups should scale up and become household names and change the face of Kerala. In the near future, each start-up will come up with solutions, products, new ideas, jobs and change the environment of the State”.

Interacting with Kerala IT News, Ajith K George, co-founder & CEO, Finahub said, “To be frank, I never expected this coming to us. We are very happy to receive this from a man who is our role model. We are very grateful to the Startup Village team and our clients for all the support they have given us.”

Kinship Platform enables retail broking firms to improve customer engagement, achieve higher operational efficiency by automating processes and get better understanding of their customers using all the customer interaction data available on the platform.

“Although the company was incorporated in 2010 in Trivandrum, we officially started our operations in early 2012 with Hedge Equities as our first client. Recently we moved our location to Startup Village as Kochi is the idea place for hot start-ups like us. We have bootstrapped till now with our own funds. Right now we are focusing on getting some more clients as we are expanding our marketing and sales operations to Mumbai, Ahmadabad and Delhi in the next one year. We are also planning to start the process of raising capital in the next one year”, added Ajith.

It’s time to start a start-up

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It has never been so exciting as now for start-ups in India, Sanjay Vijayakumar, chairman of Start-up Village in Kochi tells G. Krishnakumar

Sanjay Vijayakumar was writing his university examinations when he, along with his friends, launched a start-up in 2006. Six years down the line, their venture, MobME Wireless, was rated as one of India’s top emerging IT companies by NASSCOM. With a team of over 100, the company has offices in Mumbai and Delhi and presence in 17 cities across the country. Crisp business acumen and a never-say-die attitude have propelled Sanjay to rewrite the rules of the game. The Young Turk is also the chairman of the ambitious Start-up Village in Kochi nurturing entrepreneurship among youngsters. In a candid chat with The Hindu-EducationPlus, Sanjay shares his thoughts on emerging opportunities for start-ups, besides the need to develop and support young entrepreneurs.

How do you assess the Indian start-up ecosystem?

Times have never been better and so exciting as now to do a start-up in India. For the first time in 500 years, our younger generation is on the same starting line as those in the rest of the world and MobME is leading that charge as an outlier and scripting an impossible story not just for itself but for an entire generation of youth. When the world saw the birth of Silicon Valley and the Internet revolution of the 1990s, our country was just going through liberalisation. When the world saw the social networking revolution in the mid-2000s, when Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, iPhone and so on entering the scene, the younger generation in our country was just getting hold of a basic mobile phone. It is now after nearly 500 long winters that for the first time with the smartphone revolution, our younger generation has a serious chance of getting a shot at the title and in this race, we are now on the same starting line as the kid in the Valley.

What are the social benefits of allowing the younger generation to pursue a start-up culture?

Entrepreneurship is a culture and there are many advantages in having an entrepreneurial culture among the youth. As entrepreneurship is about self-learning, it creates a great new school of learning from peers and mentors who are experienced professionals. The employment, knowledge and wealth created in society are huge reasons to allow the most passionate and determined minds to pursue entrepreneurship. The social demographic stage that our society is in today also calls for a greater push for promoting entrepreneurship. Over the past decades, the brightest minds here left the State for better opportunities elsewhere, leading to the loss of the biggest asset we had — our human capital or our people. Kerala has hit the lowest population growth rate in our country and what is means is that the death and the birth rates are almost equal now, and at par with developed nations. The current population is getting older and the early migrants to West Asia are coming back with old age. If the young also leave Kerala, apart from the brain drain that will shackle our progress, we will become a land of the old. By creating an entrepreneurship culture, we create global MNCs which are based in Kerala and may do business across the globe but will have their roots and create the most employment and wealth creation in our society. To put this in a financial context, the total amount of money that the Department of Science and Technology of the Union government has invested in Technopark TBI is Rs. 3.2 crore. MobME alone has over the past six years paid more than Rs. 7 crore back to the government in the form of taxes, apart from the 100-plus jobs it has created. We didn’t leave Kerala but stood back here to create a company from scratch that is now valued at more than Rs. 100 crore.

What are the advantages of launching a start-up when youngsters are pursuing their graduation? Is the social and economic scene in Kerala supportive of such initiatives?

To understand this matter in depth, I would strongly suggest this essay by Paul Graham, founder of Silicon Valley’s most famous incubator — Ycombinator — derived out of a talk at MIT: http://www.paulgraham.com/mit.html. The logic Paul gives is very simple. There is no biological difference when you are 18 and 22, and it is only the university which says you are now a graduate. The brain is the same almost, which means you have the same level of intelligence to learn useful things. Compare this with our social context arising out of the mindset of parents in Kerala who want their children to do engineering education. Young students, who are creative and innovative, irrespective of their passions, are driven to a mad frenzy with coaching classes and entrance exam tuitions. We are taught that the student who gets the highest marks is the most brilliant student and the one who fails is categorised as stupid. This goes into such a high level that after 13 years of education, the students start to fear “failure.” As a net result, they become averse to failure and consequently become risk-averse to such an extent that no one wants even to try anything that has a chance of failing. When our students step out of the four walls of the classroom, from the academic world to the real world, they bring this fear of failure along with them. The funny thing about the real world is that there is possibly little correlation between successes in life to marks in school or college, while, at the same time, in real life, a lot of things we do are bound to fail. Our school education system is more tweaked to a memory-testing contest usually and most students by 18 do not have a clue on what they want to do in lives.

We follow the crowd and get into engineering education and the funny thing is that no one has a clue on which branch they really are interested in. Once you get into a particular stream, there is no option to change it as well. I feel that is amazingly unfair to the youth as they get stuck with a choice they were forced to make, when they didn’t have a full realisation of what they are getting into. Having said this, I feel that the newly announced student entrepreneurship policy of the State government is a great effort in creating that 20 per cent free time for students in which they can now work on things that are interesting to them at an incubator like Start-up Village.

http://www.thehindu.com/education/its-time-to-start-a-startup/article4283405.ece

Startup Village ties up with LABX Foundation for internships (http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/kochi/5793-startup-village-ties-up-with-labx-foundation-for-internships)


Kochi: Lab-X Foundation, a non-profit organisation and a participant of the MIT’s Global Ideas Challenge, has launched a pilot programme in collaboration with Startup Village at Kochi, which will facilitate much-coveted internship opportunities and outreach programmes in some of the engineering colleges in the US.

“Most Indian engineering schools have a tremendous lack of R&D and entrepreneurial effort to build a robust high-tech environment. Save the IITians, majority of the students do not have any global exposure or hands- on learning experience,” Sampriti Bhattacharyya, Director of Lab-X Foundation and a doctoral student at MIT, said from Boston. “However, there are some extremely bright students in these smaller colleges who do not get the right resources. Lab-X Foundation is set to address this problem by organising structured programmes to promote research, innovation and entrepreneurship throughout the country and build the next generation leaders”.

Foundation was co-founded by Sampriti, Ketan Dande and Chris Garry with an objective to provide students in developing countries with opportunities to gain practical, hands-on experience. It has collaborated with scientists at some of the top notch national laboratories, like Fermilab, and will be mentoring students to avail summer internships at such places.

Ketan Dande, Associate Director of Lab-X Foundation who was recently in Kochi promoting Lab-X, is visiting engineering colleges in Kerala to create awareness about this opportunity.

Lauding the collaboration with Lab-X, Sanjay Vijayakumar, Startup Village Chairman, said this would give a tremendous fillip to students who have the ability and conviction to launch their own start-ups. He also announced that expenses of students chosen for the internships would be paid by the host institutes while Startup Village would foot the bill for their airfare and visa fee.

“We aim to give college students a global exposure of the best universities and labs in the world even while they are studying with an aim that our best minds can come back and use the knowledge gained for the benefit of our society. However the internships are extremely competitive and are meant for highly motivated students,” he said.

Is the "Mallu Angel Network" for real? See the blog...

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/01/17/kerala-wants-angels-for-startups/

Do they have a website or something?

Kerala tries to re-discover the IT story through product firms

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RECENTLY IN KOCHI: Kerala is the first State to come up with a dedicated Techno Park to promote the IT industry. But it lost its plot to Bangalore, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad as they went on to become poster boys for the IT services industry.

After two decades, the God’s Own Country has decided to re-discover the IT plot via products. With the StartUp Village concept catching the imagination of the college graduates, the State is now readying one lakh sq ft of space for the phase-II.

Since its start in April 2012, Startup Village has received 550 applications from young aspirants seeking incubation. About 200 of them are being supported through virtual incubation and 35 under its direct handholding.

The public-private initiative, backed by the Department of Science and Technology and the State Government, is now set for expansion, keeping in view the demand from engineering students. “We are seeking to incubate 1,000 start-ups in the next 10 years,” Sanjay Vijayakumar, who started a college start-up himself seven years ago, told Business Line.

Sanjay, who played a major role in promoting the Startup Village concept, felt that there was no point in building yet another services company. There, he argued, is no scope for such firm. “You see all the big services firms are born 2-3 decades ago. What India needs now is products companies that can give us tremendous value,” he pointed out.

ANGEL NETWORK

In order to encourage the fledgling entrepreneurs, he said 100 top Malayalee businessmen and entrepreneurs are in the process of setting up an Angel Network with a size of $10-20 million. “We have submitted the proposal to the regulator. We are going to provide very early stage funding to the young entrepreneurs,” he said.

“We are seeking small amounts from the top entrepreneurs, say $1,000 each. Losing or gaining such sums would not make much difference to them. Kris Gopalakrishnan of Infosys has agreed to contribute 5 per cent to the angel network,” he said. Sanjay himself runs a products company called MobME, a telecom value-added services company that is going public in the next few weeks.

Source - http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/kerala-tries-to-rediscover-the-it-story-through-product-firms/article4332941.ece

Kerala seems to be pulling all stops to foster entrepreneurship. Startup Village, a telecom incubator in Kochi formed last year as a public-private partnership, is planning to launch a centre in the US.

To be based in Silicon Valley, it will act as a landing pad for Indian startups looking to enter the crucial US markets and also help them understand the startup ecosystem in that country.
Sanjay Vijayakumar, CEO of MobME and promoter of Startup Village, said: “In India, there is a lack of product startup ecosystem and many startups entering the US are not aware of the ecosystem in the US, which is the technology hub. The new centre will provide opportunities for young entrepreneurs to understand the US market, interact with similar companies and tech leaders.”
Startup Village, which aims to incubate around 1,000 product startups over next 10 years, will also send student entrepreneurs to the US as part of a learning exercise. Recently, the Kerala government introduced a policy to give grace marks for entrepreneurial students for their projects. They will also be allowed to miss up to 20 per cent of classes, to pursue their projects. “With the government’s new initiative to promote student entrepreneurial projects, we are seeing a lot more students taking this role,” added Vijayakumar.

To support entrepreneurship, Kerala is now forming an angel network — Mallu Angel Network — to support startups. It plans to create a network of 1,000 successful Kerala-born entrepreneurs and industrialists from all over the world. These established businessmen will offer mentoring services to the startups.

The network will be anchored by Infosys Co-chairman S Gopalakrishnan, also the chief mentor of Startup Village. Other members of the network include Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Federal Bank CEO Shyam Srinivasan, Bharti Enterprise Group’s group director for IT Jai Menon and Geojit Financial Services’ founder C J George, among others.

“Mallu Angel Network will be a not for profit body like the Mumbai Angel Network. We are going to leverage the advantage of having wealthy and successful Kerala-born entrepreneurs to foster start-up growth,” said Shaffi Mather, chief economic advisor to the Kerala Chief Minister. Other than the US centre and the angel network, the Village will set up Kerala’s first angel fund —Startup Village Angel Fund-1 — of $10 million with an option to go up to $20 million, awaiting Securities and Exchange Board of India’s approval.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/kochi-startup-village-planning-to-setcentre-in-us/500562/

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/enterprise-it/services-apps/BlackBerry-10-gets-Indian-touch/articleshow/18238217.cms

BlackBerry 10 gets Indian touch

KOCHI: BlackBerry, whose smartphones have for long been used by the professional class, is adding a dash of spice to attract younger users. Its latest phones will feature applications developed by 57 companies housed within Kochi's Startup Village, an incubation centre backed by the Kerala government.

Students employed by these companies have developed nearly 150 apps on the BlackBerry platform, ranging from algorithms for guessing your mood to those that help start and accelerate a car.

These apps reflect an image makeover for the device maker, Research in Motion (RIM) - the maker of BlackBerry phones - which is trying to eat into the market share of larger rivals Apple and Samsung. BlackBerry was until recently offering users about 1,05,000 apps, compared with 7,00,000 for Android phones and 7,75,000 for Apple.

To bridge this gap, RIM turned to sourcing innovation from new locations and chose Kerala as its first destination in Asia-Pacific last year.

"We found the Kerala Start-up Village to be excellent in garnering college support, and providing land, legal and financial assistance to student entrepreneurs," said Annie Mathew, director alliances and business development at RIM India.

RIM provides free toolkits, BB 10 devices and developer support to students developing apps. Nearly a tenth of the 4,00,000 developers working on the BlackBerry platform now are from India.

Industry experts believe that by creating a robust app ecosystem RIM expects to shore up its declining share in the global smartphone market which fell to 5% last year from 10% in 2010.

"The reason RIM lost the race to Apple and Samsung was because it had no exciting hardware or platform for developers," said Kunal Bajaj, director at mobile venture One97 Communications and a BlackBerry user. "With BB 10, RIM aims to get some of that buzz back."

RIM will also pay developers $10,000 (Rs 5.4 lakh) for every app successfully ported on the BB 10 platform. The company expects to have 70,000 apps globally with its new BB 10 devices being launched this week.

Arjun R Pillai, 24, who quit Infosys last year to team up with his college mates and launch Profoundis, has developed about 12 apps for the BlackBerry platform.

His company's apps 'Sense' and 'Emotion' use search algorithms to analyse the mood of a blog or predict whether a movie can be a hit or flop. His other apps 'Yoga' and 'Cook Book' are also being ported to the new platform.

"The only challenge behind developing an app for BlackBerry was that the exposure was low compared to an Android. Hopefully, it will get resolved now," says Pillai. Mathew of RIM believes having fewer apps on BlackBerry World in contrast to rival platforms, is not a disadvantage. "We just focus on the quality of apps, never the quantity. After all, how many poker games do you need?"

The ‘jugaad’ culture in innovation will skyrocket startups in India to great heights, US-based Asha Jadeja, managing partner at Dot EDUventures, said here at the Startup Village on Wednesday.

She added that startups in the country had the same professional quality and accountability as those in Silicon Valley, but lacked venture capital.

She was in the village for announcing a contest, the winners of which, will be given a tour of Silicon Valley in California. The contest had been mentioned earlier by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

She said that there were more links between Silicon Valley and Startups in India. She was all praise for the Startup Village and said that the innovation present in the service sector, should also happen in the product sector.

She announced that she was investing in three ventures in India and said that this was her first visit to the state.

She also advocated promotion of green thinking and warned against institutionalisation of startup villages, which would curb freedom and creativity.

The five students, selected from the contest, will tour Silicon Valley in March and meet IT wizards including founders of Facebook and Google.

The trip will be supported by the state government and Dot Eduventures.

The contest, named SV Square (Startup Village to Silicon Valley) will commence on February 1 and will be open to school students from Class Eight upwards and to college students. They will have to upload a three-minute video about their innovative ideas on the Youtube.

Applications can be send to www.svsquare.in till February 10. A jury comprising of Prof Anil Gupta of IIM-A, former NASSCOM president Kiran Karnik and heads of the Startup Village, will announce the winners on February 15.

The five students will get to interact with revolutionary IT minds at the Rajeev Circle gathering on March 24, a meet organised by Rajeev Motwani Foundation in memory of Asha’s husband Rajeev, a former faculty of Computer Science at Stanford University.
http://newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/article1443021.ece

Will BlackBerry 10 give Kochi a global head start?

For the only southern state that missed the boom in Indian IT almost completely, Kerala has a lot riding on the future of*BlackBerry
*10. On its own, the Ontario, Canada-based firm hopes that the efforts made by 20-somethings at theBlackBerry Innovation Zone
*in Kochi's*Startup Village
*will help it redeem lost time and market share.

Rubus Labs, the BlackBerry Innovation Zone showcasing the latest in*BlackBerry technologies
, came up at the country's first telecom business incubator campus almost a year ago. The largely student-developer crowd here has developed nearly 150 apps for BB10, ranging from algorithms for guessing your mood to those that help start and accelerate a car.
http://m.economictimes.com/tech/ites/will-blackberry-10-give-kochi-a-global-head-start/articleshow/18308275.cms

We missed the IT reveloution all together though we were the pioneers in it... Out of 100bn$ we find pride in saying our contribution is 3000cr..

Hope such pathetic situation doesnt come for Start up village...govt shud do all it could to encourage creativity and innovation...atleast we shud not become gallery crowd in future...we hv to b at centre stage....More than smart city ...i will b happy to see this initiative growing to full potential.

We missed the IT reveloution all together though we were the pioneers in it... Out of 100bn$ we find pride in saying our contribution is 3000cr..

Hope such pathetic situation doesnt come for Start up village...govt shud do all it could to encourage creativity and innovation...atleast we shud not become gallery crowd in future...we hv to b at centre stage....More than smart city ...i will b happy to see this initiative growing to full potential.

We already missed the bus on innovation, startups, etc. We are playing catch-up now with Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Gurgaon.

Almost all the VC firms in India are in Bangalore, with a few in Mumbai, and even fewer in the other cities like Chennai, Delhi. The angel / seed investors are mostly in Mumbai and Bangalore. As far as I know - there is not a single Angel / Seed / VC firm in Kerala (except the defunct Kerala govt. VC fund).

Bangalore is undoubtedly the startup capital of India. Kerala will need at least a decade to catch up (if at all).

:cheers:

Another achievement from Start-Up Village (http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/kochi/5836-profoundis-labs-gets-selected-for-microsoft-accelerator-programme)

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/382360_611748152185272_1667170514_n.jpg

Profoundis, a dream child of the entrepreneurial dreams of four youngsters from Kerala, has been selected by the globally acclaimed Microsoft Business Accelerator for the 2013 batch. Profoundis is currently incubated at Startup Village Kochi, and is one among the 13 start-ups shortlisted from over 350 applicants across the globe. This association with Microsoft will provide Profoundis with global market exposure and extensive technological support from the world’s biggest software company.

According to Jofin Joseph, Co-founder & COO, Profoundis Labs, “We are the first company from Kerala to be selected for the Microsoft Accelerator for Windows Azure programme in India. We are proud that this achievement comes to us in the 6th month of our operation. We are thankful to our mentors and all our well wishers who guided us through the journey to achieve this at the early stage. Our special thanks to Startup Village, where we are incubated. The Profoundis team will be moving to Bangalore for this programme.”

Microsoft received more than 350 applications from early stage technology start-ups, with ideas across Big Data, augmented reality, healthcare, education, mobile applications, social networking, security, etc. The final 13 were selected after several rigorous rounds of screening by a panel of judges comprising senior leaders from the industry and Microsoft.

Starting March 1, 2013, the 13 start-ups will be hosted in Microsoft’s state-of-the-art Accelerator facility in Bangalore, and undergo a four-month deep immersion programme under the guidance of elite mentors from the industry and Microsoft.

Profoundis was founded by Arjun R Pillai, Jofin Joseph, Anoop Thomas Mathew and Nithin Sam, who did their undergraduate course together at the College of Engineering, Chengannur. The founders worked with different companies including Infosys for two years before coming back together to revitalize the plan. Profoundis has already acquired customers in business analytics, Social media listening and external agencies across multiple states in India.

More tech incubators for Kerala

Five new Technology Business Incubators by the Thiruvananthapuram-based Technopark-Technology Business Incubator (T-TBI) are on the anvil to bolster entrepreneurship and innovation among youngsters. This will take the total number of TBIs in the State to 11.
T-TBI managing director K.C. Chandrasekharan Nair told*"The Hindu"that new TBIs will be operational in one-and-a-half years. “The proposals will receive the in-principle approval of the National Advisory Committee shortly,” he said.
While the TBI proposed at the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) will incubate companies dealing in information technology and bio-technology as well, the thrust area will be hardware. “It will be the first of its kind incubator for core hardware products,” Mr. Nair said.
Cusat Vice-Chancellor Ramachandran Thekkedath said he was confident and upbeat about the proposed TBI in spite of space constraints.
This will be the third incubator in Kochi, the other two being the Start-up Village at Kinfra Park and the agro-business incubator at the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology.
*Funds not a problem*
Funding for TBIs was not a problem thanks to the Union government’s Department of Science and Technology (DST), which funds up to 50-60 per cent of the total project cost, Mr. Nair said.
The IEDC (Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre) at the Amal Jyothi College of Engineering at Kanjirappally in Kottayam district will be elevated to rural technology-based TBI. The elevation comes in the wake of the IEDC’s success in incubating five companies for four years together, one of the conditions subject to which the DST provides Rs. 45 lakh for five years under the IEDC programme, Mr. Nair said.
The Technopark TePP (Technopreneur Promotion Programme) Outreach Centre at Care Keralam, a Koratty-based Ayurveda consortium, will also be converted into an Ayurveda-centric TBI. The remaining two TBIs will come up at Thiruvalla - a medical TBI at Pushpagiri Medical College, and a bio-science and bio-technology-based incubator at Mar Athanasios College for Advanced Studies.
Besides, the NRI-TBI announced at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be inaugurated at Infopark next month.
Mr. Nair said that companies successfully incubating from the TBIs will be given preferential treatment at IT Parks in the State.
“T-TBI will organise a reverse pitching this April whereby venture capital firms will come scouting for innovative start-ups worthy of funding rather than the other way around. This will enable start-ups to focus on the creative side instead of being bogged down by funding concerns. At present, a start-up may invest months in an effort to get the backing of a venture capital firm only to be rejected outright at the end,” Mr. Nair said. About 10 venture capital firms from Bangalore and Mumbai are expected to participate.
T-TBI has another novel initiative up its sleeve, as it gears up to organise a first of its kind fair exclusively for start-ups, Kerala Start-up Fair, 2013, on February 28. The product start-ups will be given space to exhibit their products while service-oriented start-ups can also showcase their strengths and expertise. Already 23 start-ups from across the State have registered for the fair.
“Investors can enter in to agreements with start-ups of their choice at the one-day fair itself. The fair will be made in to an annual affair and will be held at destinations across the State,” Mr. Nair said.

Source - http://m.thehindu.com/news/states/kerala/more-tech-incubators-for-kerala/article4394434.ece/?maneref=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.google.com%2F

They made the phones smart

Hello! Come meet our very own BlackBerry Boys. As RIM (Research In Motion) launches the BlackBerry 10 (BB10), the smartphone from its stable, in Mumbai today, we in the city have much reason to cheer. It is a proud moment for students and engineers working in the tech-business incubators at the Startup Village in Kalamassery for they have developed more than 200 apps for the BB10World app market. These youngsters are thrilled.

Twenty-one-year-old Arvind Sanjeev’s app, RideSmart, has received an appreciation from BlackBerry and he is all set to be part of the launch. He has been invited for the event to showcase the possibilities of controlling the car using his app that facilitates remote vehicle activation using smartphones.

With the RideSmart one can switch on the car, control the features like AC, parking lights, central locking, engine start, power windows and many other activities. “It has a futuristic scope of even controlling your car via the smartphone,” says Arvind. The app needs a small hardware module to be fitted in the car.

Arun Ravi K., 23, and Ramchand B.R., 23, who represent Agrima Infotech Pvt Ltd., are from a group of seven engineering students who are the developers of ‘India’s first Humanoid Robot with Artificial Intelligence’. Their app VIKI is a personal assistant exclusive for BlackBerry phones. Information like real time news, weather forecasts, current movies, live scores, conversation etc. will be served to the users via this application. “The main attraction is that the users can have a conversation with their phone,” say Arun and Ram, adding that VIKI responds after studying client behaviour. “VIKI is not something but someone,” they say proudly.

It was in May last year that BlackBerry set up Rubus Labs, BB’s first innovation zone, in Asia-Pacific, at the Startup Village, to enable youngsters create basic apps and market them. Through live Webinars and seminars they encouraged and guided youngsters to actively be a part of the process of developing the BB10. Six months ago they provided developer devices at Rubus to those who were interested in making apps. “This gave them the advantage. Blackberry also arranged for hackathons and workshops in Kerala. At a hackathon in Bangalore students from the Startup Village came up trumps winning the first prize,” says Zacharias Manuel, Knowledge Architect of Startup Village declaring with pride that the average age of the techies is below 30.

BASE Kerala (Blackberry App Student Entrepreneur) was another collaborative between Blackberry and Startup Village which was run across five engineering colleges in the State that threw up student developers. “Our company Profundis has developed 12 simple apps for BB10,” say Jofin Joseph and Sachin Mathew disclosing that the brief from BB was to open up the phone from being just a business phone to a wider market including students and homemakers. Hence their apps Yoga, Make-a-Drink and the likes are conducive for all users. Recently, their company, which is mainly into Date Analysis has got selected for Microsoft Accelerator Programme, the first company from Kerala.

Rohil Dev, 22 of RHL Vision swipes his hand casually over his developer device and turns on the music. He casually runs it back and forth and changes the tracks. His app, Ferne Player, a trackless music player enables the pause, stop, play features by a simple hand movement.

Arun Chandran and Ratheesh VR started Ovoid, an independent video game development company. Their prime focus is on gaming and they have made Ikebana, a puzzle game for the smartphone.

The Movie Tarot, an app made by riafy, a team of six developers, “quantifies hype” over a film and predict its box office rating, explains John Mathew, Benoy Joseph and Joseph Babu. They claim to have had considerable success, at the trial stage, with their app, having used it to predict box-office rating for some of the recently released films like Talaash, Vishwaroopam and Kai Po Che.

Annie Mathew, Director, Alliances and Business Development, RIM, states that the biggest contribution by these ‘Blackberry Boys’ is innovation, on how the consumer engages with the BB, of how the phone is used to manage systems. The other thing she foresees is “the creation in large numbers of locally relevant applications because you have Malayalis making apps for Malayalis. They understand the need so it becomes more personal.” Meanwhile, the young men for whom it has been a “big learning experience,” wait eagerly for the response to their applications from the Indian market, already having got good feedback from markets in Canada and America.

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/gadgets/they-made-the-phones-smart/article4446363.ece

Kochi Startup Village Makes The Nation Proud Again
This is what we need....

Bangalore: Two key reasons why Kochi startup village is in news is because it is backed by renowned IT professionals (Kris Gopalakrishnan of Infosys) and it is considered to be a laudable initiative because the institution generates job creators rather than job seekers. Innovation is the key to a successful startup,incubators and startup villages provide a creatively charged environment where every individual is trying to build upon their dream. Such an environment not only fuels creativity but it also gives an invaluable network to a string of individuals who are going to be the corporate leaders of tomorrow.


One such startup village which has already proven its worth is the Kochi Startup village.


As BlackBerry launches its flagship Smartphone BB10, students and engineers working in the tech-business incubators at the Startup Village in Kochi have much reason to cheer as they have developed over 200 apps for the BlackBerry OS maker. A few recent achievements of youngsters who belong to the Kochi startup village are:


RideSmart:
An app that can enable you to control your car with your Smartphone was made by “Twenty-one-year-old” Arvind Sanjeev.

http://m.siliconindia.com/news/startups/Kochi-Startup-Village-Makes-The-Nation-Proud-Again-nid-141913-cid-19.html

Anyone here who is based in the Startup Village / or knows somebody who is working in Startup Village?

I am hoping to visit Startup Village end of this week / early next week. Would be great if somebody there can get me through security - and give me a short tour :)

Please PM if you can be of help.

^^You can directly go through the front security office saying that you want to visit the start up village. Once you reach there, you need to find out the office room, which is not hard to find. You might meet Mr.Sijo based on his availability Once you brief about what you want to do, he might direct the office staff who deals with marketing and HR to brief you regarding their modes of operations and then will give you a short tour.
This was how it was when I was there. Not a big deal.

@sree_ec

thanks. Will try that.

Startup Village, the country's first telecom incubator here, will host top global entrepreneurs and mentors Wednesday.

The delegates are part of a transnational programme designed to scale up technological solutions to modern challenges.

The programme, Unreasonable At Sea, is a radical experiment in global entrepreneurship, design thinking and education, which aims to scale-up effective technological solutions to the pressing challenges of modern times.

Team members include Megan Smith, vice president Google; Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress; Daniel Epstein, founder of Unreasonable at Sea, and Cynthia Yeung, director of International Partnerships, Unreasonable at Sea.

"This is a massive endorsement of Startup Village from top entrepreneurs and mentors from around the world. It will be a great learning experience for technology incubators here," said Sanjay Vijayakumar, chairman of Startup Village.

The group comprises teams from 10 countries with expertise in astrophysics, artificial intelligence, biological, mechanical, software and medicine.

Some students at the Startup Village here on Monday launched a job portal which works like a social networking site, wherein job seekers and job providers can interact.

The brains behind Bagyourjob.com say they don’t charge job providers like other such sites who sell the database of job seekers. In fact, they can’t sell the database, as it is open to all who sign up (even a ‘friend request’ is not needed as in Facebook).


“The resume of a job seeker is open to all users of the site. There is no provision to hide a profile as we presume that job seekers want the maximum number of employers to see their resume. We aim to bridge the gap between job-seekers and recruiters, that too without charging anyone,” said Midhun Sankar, CEO and co-founder of Verbicio which brought out the site.


Any user can also post job opportunities that come to her/his notice. There is also provision for testimonials by friends or other contacts. “There are special features like a provision for retrieval of mail IDs of a group so that an employer can send a group mail without going through saving each ID,” Midhun added.


The site will be sustained solely through revenue from advertisements. Other members of the team are Bibin Varghese, Nakul E. Sibiraj, Joel Varghese and Satya.

Kochi: How about having bus timings at your fingertips which would help you avoid the long wait for them? This is one of the passenger-oriented services that the Motor Vehicle Department is planning to implement as part of revolutionizing the public transportation system. For this, they are banking on the services of a fresh engineering graduate who developed a unique software.

The ‘City on Wheels’ software developed by Nishant P.R., who was a student of the Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology, is under the active consideration of the Motor Vehicle department and the Transport Minister.

“A software developed by Nishant, is under our active consideration,” said a top MVD official. “Once we get all inputs regarding the timings of private and KSRTC buses, the programme could help the public access the exact timings through their mobile phones. They can either SMS the query to a given number to know the timings or get the data via smartphones,” said Nishanth P.R., who set up Technovia Info Solutions Pvt Ltd.

Nishant would also be helping the department with another herculean task – rescheduling route timings of all the buses passing through the Vytilla Hub that would require data from seven RTOs including Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.

“The automation will save time and labour. The entire bus timings and routes will be documented digitally. Over 600 buses of the KSRTC and those of the private sector will be scheduled in a centralized manner,” Nishanth said.
Deccan (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130410/news-current-affairs/article/software-regulate-bus-timings)

Mobile phone to tell if your drive will be smooth (http://gulfnews.com/news/world/india/mobile-phone-to-tell-if-your-drive-will-be-smooth-1.1169458)
Kochi: Start-up firm AmidRay Technologies (http://amidray.com/), based here, has launched a community Android application “Blockout Traffic”, which informs people of choked traffic within a 25-30 km radius, the creators of the programme said on Thursday. This is being billed as the country’s “first free-and-easy traffic mobile application” for those on the move.

AmidRay Technologies is a start-up firm incubated at Technopark and Startup Village, Kochi, by four youngsters. The application will display the name of the roads and locations in the users’ area, indicating where there is a traffic block.
Article continues below

The application works with a community, called the “blockout community”. Members can post accounts of traffic blocks whenever they encounter one.
“As a technology products start-up, we are keen on developing applications that serve the community as a whole,” said A.K. Pratheeksha, CEO of AmidRay Technologies.

Blockout Traffic locates the exact position of a user by using the GPS in the phone. The phone should have internet connectivity in order to post blocks and get block updates.

Blockout Traffic is available in the Google play store. The application is currently available only in android platform, and can be downloaded free from http://www.amidray.com/

“We have focused on android since it has more than 50 percent of the Indian smart phone market. We are also planning to release the app in other platforms in the near future. We will be implementing soon a feature wherein the app will give automatic traffic updates to the user,” said Nithin Bose, co-founder and chief technology officer at AmidRay, which has a presence in Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Bangalore.

Kerala may soon add 4 more TBIs

Kochi: Four new Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) from the state have lined up for funding from the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) under the Department of Science and Technology.

The National Expert Advisory Committee of the Board is meeting at Startup Village in Kochi on April 16 and 17 to assess the performance of 65 TBIs in the country and also to consider new applications, including the four from Kerala.

The proposed new TBIs from the state are located at Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Tiruvalla, (Medical Sciences), Cochin University of Science and Technology (IT & Biological Sciences), Amal Jyothi Engineering College, Kanjirapally (Rural Technology) and CARe Keralam, Koratty in Thrissur (Ayurveda).

A TBI is eligible for a maximum of Rs 5 crore grant, based on its project. This is the first time that these many TBIs are being lined up from the state within a year for funding. “This augurs well for Kerala and can boost entrepreneurial talent in the state,” said K.C. Chandrasekharan Nair, head of Technopark-TBI, the first from Kerala.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130414/news-current-affairs/article/kerala-may-soon-add-4-more-tbis

BlackBerry bets on Kochi app to fight Apple

Kochi: Canada-based, world renowned BlackBerry is drawing able support from Kochi as it is engaged in a door-die battle with Apple and Samsung, following the launch of its new operating system and some new generation handsets amid fierce competition from the two rivals.

Coming to BlackBerry’s aid in this fight is Viki, a personal assistant app from a Kochi startup, which BB believes can take on Apple’s Siri.

Originally developed as a robot called Agrima by a bunch of youngsters, who passed out from the Sree Narayana Gurukulam College at Kadayirippu near Kolencherry in 2011, the algorithm has been adapted for the mobile app. It is to be launched on BlackBerry-Z10 handset as Viki on April 23. The app can be downloaded and subscribed for just $3 a year.

The market is already abuzz with Viki-vs-Siri comparisons. BlackBerry has done a series of tests before picking Viki which has nine touch options but also does its functions using the voice of the user as input.

As your personal assistant or more so as your buddy, Viki can send messages and mails, place calls, write posts on social networks, schedule meetings, operate other applications, choose a movie, find a restaurant or get you updated with the news, weather etc, said Anoop Balakrishnan, CEO of Agrima Infotech Pvt Ltd, the makers of the app.

“What makes Viki different from Siri is its ability to update database constantly by learning the user’s behaviour. For example, if the user loves classical music, and when he asks for music, it plays him classical music. It would also pick a vegetarian restaurant if the user is a vegetarian,” said Arun Ravi, company vice-president.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130416/news-current-affairs/article/blackberry-bets-kochi-app-fight-apple

Playing a mid-wife to studentpreneur boom (http://newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/Playing-a-mid-wife-to-studentpreneur-boom/2013/04/16/article1546960.ece)
The founders of the MobME Wireless were called ‘crazy’, when they set out to launch the first campus start-up in Kerala in 2006. The teachers taunted them, asking whether they had come to college to study or to start business. MobME is now all set to become the first IT-based campus start-up in India to go public.

Having scripted their own impossible dream, team MobME helped create an ecosystem, that will assist thousands of youngsters code their own success stories, through the Startup Village. The model Technology Business Incubator is a public private partnership (PPP) intiative between the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, T-TBI, Technopark and MobME Wireless.

Nothing illustrates the changing mindset of Keralites like the success sagas of MobME and Startup Village. “Earlier parents were against nurturing entrepreneurship, but now they are ready to accept it,” says V K Mathews, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry - Kerala. Startup Village at Kinfra Park in Kalamasserry is now home to 200 start-ups. Out of them, approximately 70 are student start-ups. Many see this as a fallout of the student entrepreneurship policy announced by the state government.

“Startup Village companies now cumulatively employ around 400 to 500 people. As and when the ecosystem matures, over the next two years, we expect the number to grow atleast tenfold. We are confident that more MobMEs will emerge from the Startup Village,” says Sanjay Vijayakumar, Chief Executive Officer of MobMe.

Sanjay says the Startup Village is looking forward to a future where there would emerge well-connected network of physical spaces that serves as open innovation zones at the colleges and district industries centres.

With SEBI giving its nod for the launch of an Angel Fund, entrepreneurs would not be running short of cash. “The Angel Fund will have a corpus of over $50 million (`273 crore), and will be launched in 6-8 months’ time,” Sijo Kuruvilla George, CEO, Startup Village told Express. The fund will invest `25 lakh to `2 crore in early start-up companies in the telecom sector.

Arjun R Pillai, Chief Executive Officer, Profoundis Labs, says the entrepreneurship policy declared by the state government has spurred many professionals to start their own enterprise. Arjun says the mindset of professionals and people in the state is changing rapidly in favor of entrepreneurship, a positive sign.

Kochi techies gear up for Viki-Siri face-off (http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/kochi-techies-gear-up-for-vikisiri-faceoff/article4648022.ece)


While the social media is abuzz with debates on the contest in the offing between Viki — the virtual personal assistant app set for release on Blackberry Z10 handsets by April-end— and iPhone’s Siri, the makers of Viki are working overtime to upgrade their patented software with added features.

“We are working on a client behaviour algorithm which will have a questionnaire to identify and list out individual user preferences, a feature that will be unique to Viki,” says B.R. Ramchand, vice-president (business relations) of Agrima Infotech, a Kochi-based start-upl launched by a group of seven graduates from Sree Narayana Gurukulam College at Kadayirupu that developed the application. “It gives different responses in line with the individual preferences of different users.”

The advanced version of Viki will be released in a month’s time, says Ramchand. Viki was developed and patented by the team to control their creation Agrima, India’s first humanoid robot. But they wanted the software to be incorporated in a globalised platform and went ahead forging a tie-up with Blackberry for its latest handset, Z10.

Ramchand says their virtual personal assistant will serve on a single touch a host of necessities like real-time news, weather forecasts, current movies, sports scores, conversions and navigation.

Viki engages the user in friendly banter and helps schedule meetings; reminds the user of events and occasions; and carries out other jobs like sending mails, making social network posts, etc., based on voice command, making it hands-free. The assistant is designed to understand British and American English accents, says Ramchand.

While it is exclusive to Blackberry-Z10 at the moment, the team plans to deploy it across platforms such as Android depending on its commercial success.

'BlackBerry looks to foster young talent in Kochi’s Rubus labs' (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/enterprise-it/strategy/BlackBerry-looks-to-foster-young-talent-in-Kochis-Rubus-labs/articleshow/19830442.cms)
BlackBerry chose Kochi as the location for its first innovation zone in Asia Pacific called Rubus Labs to nurture young entrepreneurs to work on mobile technology. In less than ten months, student developers came out with over 200 apps out of which 70 have been ported on BlackBerry's storefront BlackBerry World.

Annie Mathew, director alliances and business development in BlackBerry, talks about how Rubus Labs is playing the facilitator for developing native apps.


Read More... (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/enterprise-it/strategy/BlackBerry-looks-to-foster-young-talent-in-Kochis-Rubus-labs/articleshow/19830442.cms)

Innovation ship sets sail, SEBI approves Start-up Village angel fund (http://www.firstpost.com/business/innovation-ship-sets-sail-sebi-approves-start-up-village-angel-fund-758973.html)
Market regulator SEBI has approved an angel fund of $10 million to address the problem of resource crunch for start-up companies across the country.

“The angel fund will be investing not only in the most promising start-ups located in Start-up Village but also in similar enterprises across the country. We are looking to broadbase the investor profile with a large set of angel investors, many of whom might be first time angel investors in India,” said the Start-up Village chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar.

Consultancy KPMG is the advisor and ILFS is trustee of the fund based at Start-up Village, the country’s first telecom incubator, at Kochi.

“The angel fund will be investing not only in the most promising start-ups located in Start-up Village but also in similar enterprises across the country. We are looking to broadbase the investor profile with a large set of angel investors, many of whom might be first time angel investors in India,” said the Start-up Village chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar.

Infosys co-founder and Start-up Village chief mentor Kris Gopalakrishnan, MobME, the country’s first campus telecom start-up, Ravi Pillai, founder of the Rs.16,000-crore Bahrain-based RP Group and other leading angel investors in India will be part of the fund.

“As the fund is investing at a very early stage, we would be focusing more on the entrepreneur and the team, and less on the idea. A smart entrepreneur is what the fund would back,” added Vijayakumar.

The fund would leave the choice with the entrepreneur whether he wants to give a board seat or not.

Welcoming the Sebi’s approval, Gopalakrishnan said this will act like a shot in the arm for Start-up Village, which would become the first incubator in India to have its own in-house fund.

“This will help the internet-telecom incubator to get the most conducive ecosystem for product start-ups,” said Gopalakrishnan.

Its upto 20 Million USD Angel Fund for Start Up Village (http://english.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/contentView.do?contentId=14015695&tabId=1&programId=11565535)

In a major boost to the country's first telecom incubator 'Startup Village', market regulator SEBI has approved the Startup Village angel fund of USD 10 million that could go up to USD 20 million with a 'Green Shoe' (over-allotment) option.

The approval for the angel fund, which would address the problem of resource crunch for startup companies across the country, came from SEBI through a notification issued on April 23, a press release here said.

The focus area of the fund will be Telecom/Internet, and it would start investing once the initial close of USD 2 million is achieved. KPMG is Advisor and ILFS is Trustee of the fund.

Welcoming the SEBI's approval, Kris Gopalakrishnan Infosys co-founder and Startup Village chief mentor said, "It will act like a shot in the arm for Startup Village, which would become the first incubator in India to have its own in-house fund. It will help the Internet-Telecom incubator to get the most conducive ecosystem for product startups."

The need to create the fund was felt as the angel investment ecosystem in India is still maturing, and for the vision of Startup Village to have a 1000 product startups by 2020, it has to influence policy, infrastructure for incubators/accelerators, angel network and angel funds, he said.

The angel fund will be investing not only in the most promising startups located in Startup Village but also in similar enterprises across the country. "We are looking to broad-base the investor profile with a large set of angel investors, many of whom might be first time angel investors in India," Startup Village Chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar said.

Besides Gopalakrishnan, MobME, the country's first campus telecom startup, Ravi Pillai, founder of the Rs 16,000-crore Bahrain-based RP Group, and other leading angel investors in India will be part of the fund.

Vijayakumar, who is also the co-CEO and co-founder of MobME, said the fund would be investing in the early stage category. It would invest between USD 20,000 and USD 250,000 into startups. For higher amounts, the fund would co-invest with other early stage funds.

"As the fund is investing at a very early stage, we would be focusing more on the entrepreneur and the team and less on the idea. A smart entrepreneur is what the fund would back," he said.

The fund would leave the choice with the entrepreneur whether he wants to give a board seat or not. There wouldn't be tag-along/drag-along rights that the fund would take as well.

The angel fund would be highly entrepreneur-friendly where the standard investment term-sheet would be available online for startup founders to go through and suggest changes as well. "We finally aim to evolve a term-sheet, that's highly entrepreneur-friendly," he said.

H K Mittal, Head and Advisor, NSTEDB (National Science and Technology Entrepreneur Development Board), said, "Having an in-house fund would give Startup Village incubatees an edge in the technology startup ecosystem."

Additionally, the fund would be a vehicle for high networth individuals (HNIs) to participate in the creation of one of the largest technology startup ecosystems in the world, said Mittal, who was instrumental in setting up the first PPP model incubator in India.

"With over 750 applications from startups in the last 12 months, Startup Village (SV) is blazing ahead in the incubation landscape in India. The 100,000 sq ft building is under construction which would make SV the largest Internet-Telecom Incubator in the world," said Vijayakumar.

By next year, Startup Village aims to have around 1,500 applications, which itself creates a large catchment area for the angel fund, he said.

^^^^^^
lol which is that 100,000 under const building

Aucupa Innovative Solutions Pvt Ltd, a Kochi-based mobile app developer, has rolled out a personal security app called iFollow, which will send out alerts when the user is in danger.

An Android app, iFollow is free to download and essentially targets women users. You can add up to three personal contacts here and whenever you shake the device for about five seconds, the app will call the number of the first contact and wait for his/her response. If the contact doesn’t respond, iFollow will generate an SMS containing details of the location and send it to all three contacts. The app will keep sending SOS messages with the details of new locations when the user is on the move. Location details will change for every 10 metres, ensuring accurate user tracking.



An incubatee of Kochi Startup Village, Aucupa was set up in August 2012 by Sudhin Vamattom, who (interestingly) holds a diploma in film-making from Chennai-based SAE College. However, Vamattom has 12 years of experience in IT and online marketing.

The startup currently has 10 people on board and will soon roll out a premium version of iFollow, a paid one geared to help kids and the elderly. The company is also setting up a sales & marketing office in Kochi, which will start functioning soon. Bootstrapped till date, Aucupa is now looking to raise Rs 50 lakh in angel funding, which will be used for product development and sales & marketing, said Vamattom.

“iFollow helps people in emergency situations and even when you have had an accident. One key feature is that it works silently on your handset. Once the app is activated, your phone will generate alerts (call and SMS) in a bid to reach your prime contacts. All you need to do is just shake the device for five seconds,” said Vamattom.

“Although similar apps are available in the market, most of these require the user to press a button to activate those. But for iFollow, you need not do that. The app keeps running in the background and you can start it with a simple shake,” explained Vamattom.

According to the founder, the app has seen over 2,000 downloads since its launch in mid-February this year. The iOS version will be released in a couple of weeks, he added.

However, iFollow is bound to face some tough competition as a few companies in the country have already come up with personal security apps of this kind. Last year, Mindhelix Technosol, another Startup Village incubatee, launched an app called Sentinel. The app enables one to send alerts to friends and family, along with location details. It works even when an attacker forcefully destroys the device and it can work offline as well. But compared to iFollow, Sentinel has seen only 500 downloads so far.

Besides iFollow, Aucupa has developed a number of apps for retail and supply chain industries. Its Bulb4 app is used by retail outlets, cable TV operators, distributors, etc., to increase productivity and reduce efforts. Bulb4 is a premium app and is priced at Rs 990.

Today i read in Manorama that startup village received 700 applications and they are not able to provide space to many companies due to limited availability of space

Currently 7 companies have already started their operations here

More companies are going to get space when their 1mn building will be ready within 3 months



Guys did they start the const. of the 1 mn building if not then hw are they claiming that the new building would be finished in 3 months?

It's not 1 Million, it's 100k sqft.

This is exactly govt shud encourage ...people may say none of these company will become 1bn dollar companies.. but are 10 cr 50 cr companies that small...we should encourage such entreprenuership....
I wud rate start up village project as much more important than smart city....
we hv to encourage creativity / innovation.

Guys did they start the const. of the 1 mn building if not then hw are they claiming that the new building would be finished in 3 months?

The new building (only 1 lakh sft) is already in advanced stage of construction. It can accomodate 40 startups more.

Currently, there is the telecom incubator and biotech incubator operating in this campus. The telecom incubator has less than 10 startups operating out of there. The biotech incubator (which is in a separate building) doesn't seem to have been able to attract many biotech startups.

This is exactly govt shud encourage ...people may say none of these company will become 1bn dollar companies.. but are 10 cr 50 cr companies that small...we should encourage such entreprenuership....
I wud rate start up village project as much more important than smart city....
we hv to encourage creativity / innovation.

Good initiative by govt.
Current startups there are a bit on the less mature side, IMO. Hopefully this will improve in the next 5 years.

It's not 1 Million, it's 100k sqft.

sry its my bad

Bangalore: It seems like Kochi startup village is on a spree to discover the best of the best entrepreneurs in the country. This startup incubator located in the heart of Kerala has played a vital role in development of many startups that proudly represents India in the international startup eco system. Apparently, the incubator is witnessing a sudden gush in the incubating applications from students as the number of applicants rose to over 700 in a year’s time! On an average, the incubator is receiving around 20 entries every week.


Adhering to the notion - ‘generating job creators rather than job seekers’, Kochi startup village is a sure thing for the country to look up to. Currently, it has physically incubated seven startups in its campus while few other hundred startups are ‘virtually incubated’ due to lack of space. However, KINFRA (Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation) has acquired enough space and the infrastructure to house the leftover startups is expected to be completed in three months from now, post which all the virtually incubated startups will be physically incubated, in terms of location, infrastructure and other benefits.