KOCHI:The Startup Village on Monday won the National Award for Technology Business Incubator, thus reflecting a sea change in entrepreneurship in the southern state known for its hostility to industry.
Sanjay Vijayakumar and Pranav Kumar, who are respectively the chairman and the CEO of the Kochi-based business incubator, received the award from Union Minister of Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan at a function in New Delhi,bagging Rs 3 lakh and a trophy for their not-for-profit firm that is planning to expand as an electronics incubator.
According to official sources, the achievement was ‘phenomenal’ considering that firms need to be three years old to contest for the award (being conferred on National Technology Day), while Startup Village is only a fortnight more than the requisite qualification. Incepted in April 2012 as the country’s first public-private-partnership model technology business incubator, the Startup Village,displayed unparalleled speed of execution by supporting 530-plus nascent firms in three years.
It is directly promoted by the Government of India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST), along with Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi-based MobME
Wireless Solutions-a 2006-founded company focused on mobile internet services for mobile phone users.
Dr Harsh Vardhan, addressing the function at Vigyan Bhawan, urged entrepreneurs for a ‘renewed vision,’ saying a reassessment of strategy could fetch better results.