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

[Kochi Resident]

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

[Asskicker]

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

[passionfruit12]

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/c...w/17327903.cms

[mohammedirshad06]

Start-up village becomes World's second place to be connected by 1 Gbps connectivity.

Its going lightening fast

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.’’

[mohammedirshad06]

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

[mohammedirshad06]

Start-up Village to get new facility too

[Malayaali]

Originally Posted by mohammedirshad06

Start-up Village to get new facility too

This is the new facility of the Startup Village, which was inaugurated recently.

Originally Posted by Malayaali

Kerala CM inaugurates 10,000-sq ft premises of Startup Village

[sree_ec]

Kerala Startup Village becomes second place in world to introduce 1 Gbps





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.

[zuperman]

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)

[Malayaali]

BlackBerry offers internships at Startup Village

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.

[Malayaali]

Muthoot Pappachan group Innovation Zone in Startup Village

[Malayaali]

One of the early incubated startups of Startup Village, MindHelix Technologies becomes the first company from India to get selected for The Alchemist Enterprise Product Accelerator program in the United States

[Malayaali]

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.

[Malayaali]

[Malayaali]

Originally Posted by Asskicker

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

[Malayaali]

BB Rubus labs, Startup Village

[Malayaali]

Originally Posted by Asskicker

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

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

[Malayaali]

Good to see top honcos helping in the civil works

[zuperman]

Originally Posted by Malayaali

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

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

[Malayaali]

What exactly is the use of a building?

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