THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) and ICT Academy of Kerala (ICTAK) have signed an agreement to support the Business Excellence and Competency Development Programme of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (IEDCs) and aspiring student startups.
Under the agreement, the ICTAK will assist the KSUM in the accreditation process, third-party partnerships for competency development and COE setups besides providing Business and Technology training to IEDC registered participants and identification of the best performing IEDCs and aspiring students startups.
As part of the accreditation process, the past performance of various IEDCs will be base-lined, their detailed yearly business planning conducted and annual performance evaluated. Top performing IEDCs will be recommended for KSUM’s premium rewards.
Under the competency development plan, the ICTAK will associate itself with leading industry partners and facilitate training on business planning, product designing, frontier technology domains and product presentation skills. The ICTAK will work with the IEDCs in identifying the top aspiring student startups through institution and regional-level workshops and competitions, for which the KSUM will extend further support for incubation and acceleration.
Commenting on the agreement, Dr. Saji Gopinath, CEO, KSUM said: “The IEDCs set up in various colleges in the State serve as a key platform for fostering innovation and entrepreneurship among the youth. In order to ensure high quality startups working in new generation technology areas emerge from these colleges, there is a need to have constant monitoring, mentoring and handholding of students and the IEDCs play a critical role in it.”
“With the association of the ICTAK, set up by leading industries in the country along with the Government of Kerala, we hope to further this process as the ICTAK would bring highly valuable industry knowledge and insights into the college startup ecosystem,” he added.
Santhosh Kurup, CEO, ICTAK said that the students need to be prepared for challenging market conditions in a highly competitive business milieu. “This initiative from the KSUM will certainly raise the standard of our students.”
The KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala Government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the State.
