KOCHI: Saji Gopinath stepped down as CEO of the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) the other day and is all set to take charge as the vice-chancellor of the new digital university. TNIE talks to the person who was instrumental in propelling KSUM and the state’s startup ecosystem through the path of success.
At the time of taking over, what was your road map for the KSUM?
I joined the Kerala Startup Mission in 2017, three years after it was founded. So naturally, my objective was to ensure accelerated growth on the foundation laid.
Identifying ‘pain points’ limiting growth and devising-implementing policies to negate the same were part of this road map.
A ‘ground up’ model for developing the ecosystem was necessary and a five-pronged strategy was devised. Since it was also the beginning of the 13th Five-Year Plan, specific targets to be achieved during the Plan period, through these strategies, had been set. I am happy that most of them could be achieved.
As CEO, what was your single biggest achievement?
I am happy that KSUM is on the right track. My biggest satisfaction was to have been associated with startup initiatives now regarded as a benchmark nationally. Also, the number of startups is doubling every year and Kerala startups today account for around 10 per cent of DPIIT-registered startups. Many have managed to achieve brand recall globally, with Bionest and Maker Village winning laurels nationally. Kerala finished among the top three in six out of the seven categories — the only state to do so — in the latest ranking of Support to Startup ecosystems. Besides, Government as a Market Place, Fund of Fund scheme and new Business4 startups launched during Covid time have been immensely gratifying for me personally.
In hindsight, are there things you would have chosen to do differently?
Yes indeed. I have identified three key areas for developing a startup ecosystem — student startups, professional startups and rural-social startups. In the last three years there has been a major thrust on professional startups and currently nearly 70 per cent of our startups were started by those with technical experience and expertise. Student startups too have grown, some of them exponentially.
However, the firms set up by rural innovators haven’t been a great success and this is an issue we must address. More so since this is a country where almost 70 per cent of the population does not go for higher studies. This is one aspect I should have focused upon more.
What are your thoughts on the startup ecosystem’s prospects in the state?
I foresee exponential growth for the startup ecosystem here. The brand recall of Navalt, Techgensia, QuickDr and Aerofill filters stand as testimony to the quality quotient of Kerala startups. We have more profit-focused high growth entities whose focus on the bottom line is as high as the top line and the low failure rates of Kerala startups even during Covid times testify to this. Many of them could well source their resources from the primary market. Maybe Kerala can develop a new way of growth for scale-up startups.