KOCHI: A high-level official delegation of the Uttarakhand Government visited Startup Village, a pioneering PPP model technology-business incubator, to study the functioning of the incubator and to explore the possibility of replicating the model in the northern Indian state.
The delegation, comprising R Rajesh Kumar, managing director of the State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (SIDCUL); additional secretary (industries), Government of Uttarakhand, and S L Semwal, general manager of SIDCUL, visited Startup Village at Kalamassery here and held discussions with the officials on Wednesday.
“I am extremely impressed with the role played by Startup Village in opening up the vast entrepreneurial avenues in the domains of telecom and Internet for the young people of Kerala. The talent and potential of the youngsters here are also remarkable. We will certainly explore the possibility of establishing a similar facility in Uttarakhand,” Rajesh Kumar said.
The Andhra Pradesh Government has already established an incubator on the similar lines in Visakhapatnam.
Recently, officials of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh had visited Startup Village to learn the nuances of building world-class startup ecosystem.
“Startup Village is a blueprint that other states want to replicate. We are at least seven years away from getting close to what we would term as a world-class ecosystem,” Startup Village chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar said.
“The delegation was very much convinced that incubators like Startup Village were the need of the hour,” Startup Village CEO Pranav Kumar Suresh said.
“The delegation had a lengthy interaction with the entrepreneurs and Startup Village authorities on the mode of functioning of the incubator and the support being extended by the government and private investors,” he added.