“We support startup ecosystem by means of different components such as Infrastructure, Human Capital Development, Funding, Governance, Public-Private Partnership, Global Collaborations, Scaling Existing and Establishing New Startups from StartUp – BootUp – ScaleUp model for moving fast from ideas to IPO.”
First of all, we would like to thank Dr. Saji Gopinath for agreeing to respond to our questions and congratulate him and entire team of Kerala Startup Mission with the recent award of the Best Publc Business Accelerator.
1) Let us start with a brief introduction of the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) and its journey since 2006.
Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) started way back in 2006 as a Non Academic Business Incubator called Technopark Technology Business Incubator (TTBI) in Trivandrum. In 2014 the state government published the Technology Startup Policy and designated TTBI as the nodal agency for all startup related activities in the state. The TTBI was rebranded then as Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) to get a better outlook and better team to implement the startup policy. The policy was again revised in 2017 by the state mission and support to the startups has been given accordingly. The state has now 2,200 startups raising USD 89 million external funding and generating around 30,000 jobs. Development of KSUM started at a grassroot level and as a result of its activities the new tech talent developed exponentially. KSUM is the government organization with an objective to support technology startups in Kerala state. KSUM is also responsible for policy framework and implementation of the startup schemes. We support startup ecosystem by means of different components such as Infrastructure, Human Capital Development, Funding, Governance, Public-Private Partnership, Global Collaborations, Scaling Existing and Establishing New Startups from StartUp – BootUp – ScaleUp model for moving fast from ideas to IPO.
2) On November 7, 2019 KSUM was named as the Best Public Business Accelerator. Please elaborate about your uniqueness and what distinguishes you from other public accelerators?
KSUM possesses the uniqueness of creating the pipeline by developing an entrepreneurial culture among local youth, equip them with new technologies and give hands on projects which make them learn how to make products while studying in colleges. The aspiring entrepreneurs will be scouted from the process. The incubation centers within the colleges are called mini incubators which form part of the pipeline for incubators. These startups from the incubators (at different stages) form part of the wider scope of KSUM‘s acceleration program. The startups which have products will be given a unique ID which is a validation of startups by KSUM. So nurturing the startups from the early stages to the scale up stage makes the KSUM program unique and best among the public accelerator programs. The hand-holding and startup engagement is very rigorous and in depth which reduces failure rates.
3) Please tell our readers about your future plans. What’s next for KSUM?
From its very early years, KSUM has followed a policy of uniform development across the state. Following a similar philosophy, the incubation and technical infrastructure development of KSUM has not been focused on one city alone. Under KSUM and its sector-specific partner organisations we support over 2,200 registered startups through more than 300,000 square feet of incubation space, over 30 incubators and 200 innovation cells that are distributed across different cities and districts. Many of these facilities also house the advanced labs for hardware, biotechnology, electronics, advanced computing etc. While early stage funding is being provided by KSUM through grants and seed loans, external investments are also essential for fast scale up of the ventures. To ensure availability of investment opportunities for such non-linear growth startups from Kerala state, KSUM came out with an innovative Fund of Fund scheme to invest in Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs). Over INR 10 billion of investment capital has been made available for startups through this scheme, by committing less than 10% of this amount into various AIFs. Investments worth more than double of deployed amount have already been made in to Kerala-based startups in the last one year. It is heartening to note that this early stage fund has enabled some startups to grow substantially during the past year. As a core philosophy, KSUM has also been encouraging startups to focus on revenue and not just external investments. Government’s Startup Procurement Policy, which allows Government Departments to procure technology solutions from startups through a simplified procurement process, has seen a widespread adoption. Such policies allow the Government Departments to improve their services and has created an internal market for solutions developed by startups. These innovative policies have now started attracting seasoned entrepreneurs, who had previously moved to other cities, to migrate back and set up their new ventures in Kerala. This has been a significant validation of the efforts of the Government to emerge as a leading player in the fourth industrial revolution. We believe that KSUM has a significant role to play in helping Kerala state leverage this technology-led wave of change and bring about economic and social development to the state.
4) What would be your advice for entrepreneurs who seek to start or scale up their businesses?
Identify the problem statement, validate it with client and scale your product globally.
5) How about your advice for those who consider expanding to the international markets?
Network, collaborate and expand. Look for partners in international markets or startups who are working in similar space. If a cross-selling platform with two startups is possible the product will be scalable exponentially in the global market.
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Dr. Saji Gopinath
CEO
