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Startup Village gets over 500 applications in March

The total number of applications at Startup Village touched 2,269 by March 31

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BS Reporter Kochi
Last Updated : Apr 08 2014 | 9:20 PM IST
Kochi-based Startup Village received a record 527 applications in March from young entrepreneurs keen to set up technology businesses.

The near doubling of the number of applications in a month comes as the mobile-internet technology business incubator-set up in public private partnership mode with support from the central and state governments-gears up to mark its second anniversary in April.

In February, 286 would-be entrepreneurs expressed interest in signing up with the incubation programme at the Village.

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Startup Village chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar said the surge in the number of applicants was reflective of a socio-cultural change taking place in Kerala, as young people are more willing to take risks and chase their dreams and build a new world with new products that drive the future of humanity.

"I think Startup Village has helped reinforce the idea that it is alright to take risks to bring an idea to life; and to create an ecosystem where failure is seen as a prerequisite to learning," he said.

The total number of applications at Startup Village touched 2,269 by March 31. The incubator currently supports 600 startups, of which 216 have been started by students.Thirty-four of the supported companies were physically incubated at the Village's campus at Kinfra Park in Kalamassery.

The success stories of companies nurtured by incubators such as Startup Village and Technopark TBI played a key role in driving the entrepreneurship movement in Kerala.

The state government has been actively promoting it, particularly through policy frameworks and infrastructure support. A task force formed by State Planning Board vice chairman KM Chandrasekhar has entrusted Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) managing director Aruna Sundararajan, CII Kerala chairman and Federal Bank CEO Shyam Srinivasan and Startup Village chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar to come up with a roadmap to create a world-class startup ecosystem in Kerala.

They are expected to submit their report by April 30.

When Startup Village was set up in 2012, its chief mentor

Kris Gopalakrishnan, executive vice chairman of Infosys, predicted the incubator would change the industrial climate in Kerala, Sanjay added.

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First Published: Apr 08 2014 | 8:31 PM IST

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