Startup Village Kochi | India's first PPP Telecom Incubator Zone

[Malayaali]

[psanthosh]

http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bi...D=@@@&tabId=11

[Malayaali]

Startup Village, Asianet Money Time

[Malayaali]

Startup Village & IEEE ComSoc to groom innovative student projects

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.

[Malayaali]

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.

[Malayaali]

Infosys initiative to fill entrepreneurship vacuum

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.

[mohammedirshad06]

News about Start-Up Village in Asianet Money Time

[mohammedirshad06]

Balloon Mapping by Start Up Entrepreneurs

[Malayaali]

Industry majors to support IT product startup village

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.

[mohdshanil]

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.

[psanthosh]

Central Minister Sachin PIlot visited Startup village

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



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/ma...2-08-04/kerala

[passionfruit12]

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...cle3725643.ece

[psanthosh]

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/ma...08-18/business

[psanthosh]

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/ma...08-21/business

[psanthosh]

Angel investor visits Startup Village



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/k...icle592356.ece

[psanthosh]

source: kerala kaumudi

[psanthosh]

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/ma...09-01/business

[mohammedirshad06]

Smart Line ups at Start-Up Village

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.

[KMC]

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/...cle3869734.ece

[psanthosh]

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.

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