KOCHI: To nurture aspiring entrepreneurs in Kerala’s tier 2 and 3 cities and help them realise their startup dreams, Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) is organising a state-wide, over 1,000-km long ‘Startup Yatra’ this November.
The march will be flagged off from the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s official residence in Thiruvananthapuram, on Thursday. It will then proceed all the way to Kasargod, covering multiple educational institutions on its way, before culminating with a grand finale at the state capital’s Park Center towards the end of November.
The ‘Startup Yatra’ is being organised in collaboration with Startup India, the Central Government’s flagship initiative to empower startups through innovation and design. According to the organisers, 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.
As a part of the yatra, eight boot camps and 14 Van stops are planned in the 14 districts of the state. All the boot camps will have ideation workshops and idea pitching sessions for entrepreneurship exposure for the students.
“Aspiring or budding entrepreneurs can pitch their ideas to the panel and those with the best ideas will get a golden opportunity to participate in a two-day acceleration programme with the best incubator,” said the organisers. The shortlisted will get a chance to pitch for offers by incubators and incentives by the state government.
The schedule includes Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (IEDC) Summit at Amal Jyothi College, Kottayam, on November 3. One of Asia’s biggest gathering of startup aspirants, the summit will be a one-of-its-kind platform to facilitate the transformation of entrepreneurship-related ideas into market-fit products.