Application Opens for Kerala Startup Mission’s “StartUp Dreams”

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
The Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) has begun receiving applications for its ‘Startup Dreams’, an incubation centre setup to encourage ventures and entrepreneurial insights of SC, ST and OBC candidates in multiple sectors.
Established in Ambedkar Bhavan, at Mannanthala in the state capital, the facility offers incubation support for the aspirants with a new range of programmes in entrepreneurship development training, leadership and capacity building. The facility is setup by the KSUM with the support of the Scheduled Caste Development Department (SCDD), Government of Kerala.
According to a study conducted by the Planning Commission, Government of India, on “Entrepreneurship Challenges for SC person in India,” major economic constraints of the SC entrepreneurs are the lack of support for the startup initiatives even as over 86 per cent from these sections believe that they have been successful in their business. Key challenges faced by SC entrepreneurs are competition, poor infrastructure, inadequate power supply and lack of access to the market, raw material, capital or finance, marketing knowledge, production and storage space, business training and social acceptability.
‘Startup Dreams’ is an initiative to address these constraints faced by the entrepreneurs from these categories. It provides a congenial ecosystem for them to kick start their entrepreneurship in a safe mode. Two batches have successfully graduated 90 per cent of the startups in the facility. The support extended by the SCDD helped the incubation centre and the startups to scale up the next level.
The last date for application is on February 18. The programme for the first batch will begin on March 1. The details of the project are available at http://startupdreams.co.in/ .