In a bid to develop the Startup Village at Kinfra Hi-Tech park in Kalamassery faster, the state government has allotted `10 crore for the entity.
The fund will be utilised for the timely completion of the one lakh-sq ft built-up area at the village. If all goes well the new facility will be ready soon. Earlier, the Central Government had released `10 crore as assistance for the telecom incubator here.
The Startup Village at Kalamassery, the first of its kind telecom incubator under PPP mode in the country, that’s into its third year of inception is experiencing space crunch. The number of applications are piling up by the day. It has created around 2,000 jobs now and the average space is four seats per startup, incubated at the village physically.
“The Startup Village model has been very successful so far. The response from the wannabe entrepreneurs has led to a space crunch at the Village. Now we have been exploring many options to provide more space for them. The recent government fund allocation will be a major boost for the village,” said Startup Village chief executive officer Sijo Kuruvilla George.
The major options to provide space being explored are the refurbishment of HMT building at Kalamassery which will provide a space of 1.08 lakh sq ft. The availability of 25,000 sq ft facility vacant at the Gem and Jewellery park at Kalamassery is another choice.
It is estimated that about 20 sq ft space could only be provided to startup companies in the village.
As of now, 574 startups and 207 student startups are functioning and many others are virtually incubated at the village. The village has 1,742 pending applications.
The Startup Village aims to launch 1,000 startups over the next 10 years and start the search for the next billion-dollar Indian company.
“As the entrepreneurial culture is gaining momentum in the state, the Startup Village in Kochi plays an important role. Though a large number of youngsters are keen on starting new companies the space crunch witnessed at the Village is a big hurdle,” said sources at the Village Village.