KSUM to Take Aboard Young Innovators on ‘Innovation Train’

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) is all set to flag off a novel initiative called “Innovation Train,’ which will see young innovators from across the state travelling on a train from the state capital to Kasaragod, and ideating solutions for a range of grassroot-level problems while moving on.

An India first initiative that imparts scale and speed to student-led innovation and entrepreneurship, Innovation Train comes as part of the IEDC (Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre) Summit 2025, to be held in Kasaragod on December 22.

The journey will start from Thiruvananthapuram on December 21 afternoon and reach Kasaragod the next day.

The Innovation Train is designed as a real-world, working innovation environment, which functions as a thematic ideation zone equipped with structured problem-statement boards, guided design-thinking sessions, rapid validation tools, mentor interaction slots and live pitch corners.

Students will be encouraged to identify local challenges from their respective districts—spanning livelihoods, public services, climate resilience, agriculture, fisheries, healthcare and education, and translate them into solution-oriented ideas during the journey.

The initiative is expected to come out with more than 200 well-defined, implementable ideas and problem statements, many of them rooted in lived experiences and community needs.

“The Innovation Train is an entirely novel concept that seeks to build a clear pathway from grassroots problem identification to institutional support and market linkage, “KSUM CEO Anoop Ambika noted.

“Through this initiative, KSUM is reinforcing its commitment to inclusive, bottom-up innovation by ensuring that youth from all regions—not just urban centres—have equal opportunity to contribute to Kerala’s startup and innovation ecosystem,” he said.

By combining the reach of the IEDC network with a mobile, experiential platform, the initiative transforms travel into a tool for discovery and collaboration, inspiring the next generation to innovate for real-world impact, Anoop Ambika added.

The IEDC summits had over the years consistently acted as a catalyst for student-led startups and campus innovations. The upcoming edition takes that impact beyond fixed venues by embedding innovation into the journey itself.

The IEDC network, spread across engineering, arts and science campuses and universities in Kerala, has played a pivotal role in nurturing grassroots innovation.

By empowering students at the campus level with early exposure to entrepreneurship, prototyping support and mentor access, IEDCs have enabled ideas from classrooms, hostels and local communities to evolve into startups, social enterprises and scalable solutions.

The Innovation Train builds on this strong foundation by providing a statewide convergence platform, connecting isolated campus ideas into a shared innovation pipeline.

A key feature of the Innovation Train is its focus on local relevance and practical feasibility. Sector-focused ideathons and hackathon-style sessions onboard will address areas critical to Kerala’s development, including agri and food-tech, coastal and blue economy solutions, responsible tourism, circular economy, health-tech, climate-tech and AI for local language and governance applications.

Selected ideas will be enabled to move forward to structured mentoring, proof-of-concept development and incubation opportunities through KSUM-supported programmes and get showcased at the IEDC Summit.

The IEDC Summit 2025 in Kasaragod will bring together students, startups, investors, policymakers and ecosystem leaders. Ideas generated onboard the Innovation Train will receive visibility at the summit through pitch sessions, innovation showcases and curated interactions with experts and funding agencies.