THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) will organise the Rural India Business Conclave (RIBC) 2.0 on the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute’s (CPCRI) Kudlu campus in Kasaragod on June 11 and 12. ‘Ways to make use of technology for the growth of rural India’ will be the theme of the summit, organised in association with the CPCRI. The event will see Bengaluru- based venture development incubator Social Alpha pitching for providing financial aid to five Kerala startups that make products having social influence.
About a dozen speakers of international repute – Acumen Fund partner Nagaraja Prakasam, Fresh-To-Home cofounder Mathew Joseph, Kerala’s Responsible Tourism Mission coordinator K Rupeshkumar, ICAR-CPCRI director Anitha Karun, Entri App CEO and co-founder Mohammed Hisamudheen, TCS Rapid Lab head Robin Tommy, Vrddhi CTS managing partner Ajayan K Anat, Sid’s Farm CEO and cofounder Kishore Indukuri, Happy Hens founder and CEO Manjunath Marappan, ICAR representatives K Srinivas and Sudha Mysore and ESAF retail director Thomas K – will attend the event. Startup India, Social Alpha and institutions such as the Central University of Kerala, LBS Engineering College and Kerala Agriculture College of Kasaragod district will participate.
The conclave’s inaugural edition, held two years ago, had gained national attention for providing its country-wide delegates, experts and startup entrepreneurs with a platform. RIBC 2.0 will feature interactions by the country’s frontline startup entrepreneurs, sessions on the growth and prospects of technological growth in agriculture and food production, panel discussions on the scope of rural India, and marketability of products developed through technologies devised by government-run establishments, including CPCRI at Kasaragod. A Rural-Agri Tech Hackathon seeking to promote innovative technical solutions that will contribute to the country’s agricultural growth will also be held at Kasaragod’s Wintouch Palm Meadows on June 9 and 10.
The hackathon aims to derive technical solutions for agriculture sector and to develop technologies that are beneficial for tapping tourism possibilities of rural India. Students from technology sector, researchers and startups, besides professionals will participate. KSUM is the nodal agency of the state government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state. For registration, visit: https:// startupmission.in/ rural_business_conclave/.