THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Huddle Kerala, one of Asia’s largest startup ecosystem congregations, will begin here on Friday, offering a platform for startups to showcase their products and interact with a wide array of technology and industry leaders from around the world.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the two-day conclave at 12 pm at The Leela Raviz Beach Resort, Kovalam. It has been organised by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) in association with Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IAMAI Startup Foundation.
Sharjah Digital Transformation Higher Committee Chairman Sheikh Fahim Bin Sultan Al Qasimi is among the high-profile guests who will be attending the event. There will be a beach-side huddle for discussions and night stalls as part of the conclave. KSUM chief executive officer (CEO) Dr. Saji Gopinath informed that during the event the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K) would ink an MoU with global IT networking major Cisco to establish incubator for startups.
Huddle Kerala will set the stage for the beginning of Global Innovation Challenge, initiated by Silicon Valley think tank Singularity University that leads the activities of the startups, which are ready to take up the challenges being faced by the world. Selected startups in the competition will be provided training in the US.
Startups and their commercialisation based on the project and research reports prepared by Central Government’s technology institute C-DAC will be initiated at the event.
Startups, investors, academicians and industry leaders will attend the event, which is expected to have the participation of 2,000 members with 40 speakers in 30 sessions. It will primarily focus on the emerging sectors like blockchain, cryptocurrency, Internet of things (IoT), gaming and e-sports, cyber security, digital entertainment, augmented reality, virtual reality, e-governance and mobile governance among other latest technologies.
The speakers’ line-up includes successful founders, serial entrepreneurs and investors. The philosophy behind Huddle Kerala is to help the next generation world-conquering companies move forward, facilitate meetings between founders and investors and build up a huge startup community.
The Huddle 100 Competition will kick off on the first day with a 100 companies pitching in the first round. The next day 10 best companies will continue pitching and they will be mentored by the top-notch industry leaders and coaches. Out of these, semi-finalists are chosen, further narrowing down to finalist. Startups will have the opportunity to showcase their products at designated startup Zone (demo booth) at the venue.
The KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the State. World’s leading location-based marketing specialist Posterscope and mobile app builder Zoho Corporation are the sponsors of the event.
