THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Around 10 innovative ideas from among the 35 pitched ideas at the first boot camp held as part of the ongoing Startup Yatra of Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) to nurture aspiring entrepreneurs in Kerala’s tier 2 and 3 cities have been selected for the grand finale of the Boot camp.
More than 200 participants attended the boot camp held at Mar Baselios College of Engineering and Technology here on Monday. The next boot camp will be held at TKM College of Engineering, Kollam, on November 13 (Tuesday). There was a van stop on Monday in Mount Zion College, Pathanamthitta, where over 300 students gathered. A van stop has been planned on November 13 (Tuesday) in College of Engineering, Chengannur.
As part of the Yatra, eight boot camps and 14 van stops have been planned across the state’s 14 districts. The boot camps, to be held at colleges and universities, will conduct ideation workshops and idea-pitching sessions 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 Yatra will conclude in a grand finale at the Park Center here on November 26-27. The winners will get prizes totalling Rs 10 lakh besides incubation support.
KSUM has organized the ‘StartupYatra’ in collaboration with Startup India, the Central Government’s flagship initiative to empower startups through innovation and design. The primary objective of the march is to identify promising entrepreneurs from the state’s smaller cities, offer them support in terms of incubation and mentorship from renowned institutions and also help them tide over the lack of resources.