THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: St Joseph’s College of Engineering and Technology, Pala, on Sunday emerged the winners of the ‘Startup 20-20’ workshop organised jointly by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) and the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) to train prospective entrepreneurs. John Cox Memorial CSI Institute of Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, and Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering and Technology, Mattoor, Kalady, bagged the second and third prizes respectively for their startup ideas at the three-day residential workshop that concluded on Sunday.
The workshop that commenced on September 4 had brought in experienced brains to mentor 75 aspiring entrepreneurs from 40 ‘Start-up Boot Camps’ across the state. At the workshop, students were asked to work in five-member groups and develop their startup ideas.
The three colleges which produced the top three startup ideas during the workshop will now receive mentoring and support from the NASSCOM and KSUM to develop as independent companies.
P H Kurian, principal secretary for IT and Industries, who presented the awards to the winners at the valedictory function of the workshop, said the Kerala government is giving prime importance to startups in the state and the allocation of funds for startups in the state budget itself was an example for this.
Speaking on the occasion, KSUM CEO Jayasankar Prasad said the aim of the workshop was to provide guidance and mentoring to aspiring student entrepreneurs selected through the startup boot camps set up in colleges across the state.
“The workshop provided training to the participants on how to build a successful startup by overcoming various obstacles. In just three days, it also taught them how to develop an idea into a business venture,” Prasad added.