KOCHI: Startups incubated by Kochi-based Maker Village are gaining the attention of defence establishments as a high-level team of officials from Defence Production has decided to visit the incubator facility in the coming days. The move will give a thrust for startups in Kochi and elsewhere enter the defence ecosystem. Maker Village is a venture of the Kerala government to incubate startups focused on electronics and hardware production.
Ajay Kumar, secretary, Defence Production, Government of India, who was in Kochi, held a discussion with Maker Village CEO Prasad Balakrishnan Nair on Saturday. The discussions took place on the sidelines of the second edition of Hardtech 2019, a National Deeptech Startup Conclave organised by Maker Village.
Assuring that he will open the doors for startups to defence production, Ajay Kumar said the visiting team will comprise officials from the Army, Navy and Air Force. Earlier, addressing the gathering at the meet, Kumar said his office has, for the first time, been keenly watching startups for solutions of various kinds. “Startups are going to be an important part of our defence ecosystem. Users like the Army and Air Force want them to identify problems and seek ways to resolve them,” he said.
He recalled a Defence India Startup Challenge the government launched last year received 520 outstanding proposals from new companies, much to the encouragement of the plan to leverage defence startups and connect them with the armed forces. “I want startups from Maker Village to feature in the list of next edition of the Defence India Startup Challenge,” he said.