KOCHI:
Thirteen novel ideas have been selected from a boot camp that was held in St. Teresa’s college here on Thursday in connection with a state-wide ‘Startup Yatra’ being organised by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM).
The Yatra is being held to nurture aspiring entrepreneurs in the state’s tier-2 and 3 cities, while also offering them a platform to showcase innovative ideas and help realise their dreams of starting a business straight out of campus. The startup yatra is poised for a grand finale by the end of this month.
Hibi Eden, MLA, inaugurated a Teresian Innovation and Business Incubation centre at the venue on Thursday. TiE Kerala Executive Director K Chandrashekar, Maker Village CEO Prasad Balakirishnan Nair, KSIDC Deputy General Manager Prashanth R also attended the programme.
Around 250 students participated in the boot camp, presenting 39 ideas that can be seeds to opening businesses. The mentoring session were addressed by Sudhir Mohan, Director and Head, Mobility & Cloud Quality Engineering, Wipro Ltd and social entrepreneur Lakshmi Menon, who is co-founder of Chekutty dolls launched after the August floods in Kerala.
The ongoing yatra features eight boot camps and 14 van stops across the state’s 14 districts. The boot camps, which are being held at colleges and universities, will hold ideation workshops for students. Aspiring entrepreneurs can pitch their ideas to a panel and the winners will get an opportunity to participate in a two-day acceleration programme with a leading incubator.
At the end of the programme, the shortlisted candidates will be able to pitch for offers by incubators as well as incentives by the state government. The winners will get prizes totalling Rs 10 lakh besides incubation support. The Yatra will conclude at the state capital’s Park Center on November 26-27.
