THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
After the successful graduation of the second cohort of K- Accelerator batch, Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) and Zone Startups India have announced the commencement of Summer 2019 cohort for B2B startups— the third in the series — consisting of nine B2B startups from various domains.
The B2B startups have been chosen from the domains of hospitality, marketing, media and entertainment, hiring, health and data science. Summer 2019 cohort is meant for B2B startups with some early traction or revenue seeking to expand their industry connects and scale up customer conversions.
“This cohort has an interesting blend of B2B startups from different sectors and geographic locations. Over the batches, the K-Accelerator has evolved from a programme focusing exclusively on the Kerala-based startups to a market access programme, which attracts startups from other parts of the country as well,” said Dr Saji Gopinath, CEO, KSUM. “We want Kerala to project as a destination for startups,” he added.
These startups underwent an intensive three-month virtual acceleration with a physical induction programme in May, followed by more engagements in June. They will have a week-long residential boot camp in Mumbai in July. K- Accelerator was born out of the need to identify and nurture startups that can build and market world-class products from Kerala and beyond, bringing about economic growth in the state by creating jobs, wealth and favourable business conditions, in one of country’s earliest IT hubs.
During the course of the programme, the startups will also receive insights and support, in-depth design sprints for specifically identified challenges, guidance on how to position a focused B2B product, networking opportunities at industry events, and access to projects of the Kerala government.
The startups shortlisted for the Summer 2019 cohort are Documint.ai, Dripo by Evelabs, FareFirst, Roboinventions, Tartl, WittyPen, ZappyHire, Articbot, and COMP by Steerforth. KSUM is the Kerala government’s nodal agency to promote entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.
Zone Startups is the global brand of tech accelerators and early-stage venture funds operated by Toronto-based Ryerson Futures Inc., a subsidiary of Ryerson University.
