Kerala Emerges ‘Top Performer’ in States’ Startup Ranking 2021

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
In a major achievement, Kerala has emerged as the ‘Top Performer’ for the third consecutive time in States’ Startup Ranking, announced in New Delhi on Monday, for developing a robust startup ecosystem on the strength of several ‘praiseworthy initiatives’ like setting up of the Digital Hub.

Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, declared the third edition of the States’ Startup Rankings 2021, instituted by Startup India of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

Officials of Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), the state’s nodal agency for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities, received the award on behalf of the Kerala Government from Shri Goyal at the function.

Also, KSUM Director of Funding, Evangelization & Global Linkages, Riyas P M; Head of Business Linkages, Startup Life Cycle & IT, Ashok Kurian Panjikaran; and Programme Head of Government As A Marketplace, Varun G, were chosen as the Startup Champions of the State.

The Award Jury noted that the Government of Kerala has taken several praiseworthy initiatives like developing KSUM Digital Hub as a one-stop facility for all product design and development activities. The government has provided institutional support to startups through knowledge dissemination in regional languages.

The state was recognized by the Jury as an institutional champion, capacity building pioneer and procurement forerunner.

The evaluation was done on seven reform areas, including Institutional Support, Access to Market, Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Incubation, Mentorship and Funding supports, and Capacity Building Enablers.

Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir also secured the ‘Top Performer’ honour.

The Government of India launched Startup India in 2016 to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in the country that would drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities.

Commenting on the honours, KSUM CEO John M Thomas said this is certainly a proud moment for the State Government as well as the stakeholders of the startup ecosystem.

The state government has identified more than 10 Government departments to provide support to startups. These include the Department of Higher Education, Kerala Police Department, Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs.

Kerala has a network of more than 3,800 registered startups and more than 20 women-led startups.