Startup Village

Startup Village is a not-for-profit business incubator based in Kochi, Kerala, India, started in April 2012. The organisation aimed to launch 1,000 technology startups over the next ten years and start the search for the next billion-dollar Indian company.[1] It focusses primarily on student startups and telecom innovation. It is India's first incubator that is funded jointly by the public and private sectors.[2] As of October 2013, Startup Village has supported 450 startups through Incubation and Virtual Incubation combined. Businessman Kris Gopalakrishnan is the chief mentor at Startup Village.[3]

Startup Village
TypePublic-private partnership
IndustryNot-for-profit business incubator
FoundedApril, 2012
HeadquartersKochi, India Branch: Vizag, India
Number of locations
2
Websitewww.sv.co

On 1 January 2016, Kerala Startup Mission took over the physical space of the Startup Village at Hi-Tech Park in Kalamassery.[4]

Administration

Sijo Kuruvilla George was the first Chief Executive Officer of Startup Village until June 2014. Pranav Kumar Suresh, Chief Operating Officer took over from Sijo Kuruvilla George as Chief Executive Officer in July 2014. Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys was the chief mentor at Startup Village.[5]

Incubation program

Startup Village provides members with workspace, high-speed Internet connection, legal and intellectual property services and access to high-profile investors. Companies can also apply for the Startup Village Angel Fund that has been approved[6] by SEBI. They also have access to all the workshops, networking events and contests at Startup Village. Every month, Startup Village holds a community gathering where would-be entrepreneurs can connect with investors, technology innovators and famous businesspersons. Interested founders can join an open house session that is held every Saturday at Startup Village's Kochi campus to connect with the team and brainstorm with other like-minded people.[7] They can then apply online if they wish to enrol for the incubation program. The Startup Village has set up a similar incubation facility in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh with the name Sunrise startup village.[8][9] Data analytics company Unihalt is the first financially sustainable startup mentored by Startup Village.[10]

SVSquare

In January 2013, Startup Village and the Kerala government launched an initiative[11] called SVSquare. Every year, the Startup Village panel would select promising young entrepreneurs from India and send them on an all-expense-paid trip to the U.S. The aim is to expose Indian youth to the legendary startup environment in Silicon Valley. This will also give them a chance to interact with some of the famous tech gurus and entrepreneurs in the world.

References
  1. Searching for India's billion-dollar start-up, BBC, retrieved 29 October 2013
  2. Seaside 'village' in Kochi to nurture India's start-ups, Reuters, retrieved 29 October 2013
  3. "Start-ups need to become household names: Kris Gopalakrishnan", The Economic Times, retrieved 29 October 2013
  4. "Mission Possible: Government Takes over Startup Village". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  5. "About SV.CO: A learning platform for first-time founders".
  6. "SEBI approves Kerala's Start-up Village Angel Fund of $10 million". The Economic Times. 7 May 2013.
  7. "Startup Village: When to visit". Startup Village.
  8. Vizag. "Vizag Startups Community". vizagstartups.in. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  9. "Andhra Pradesh to setup [sic] an incubator based on Kochi's Startup Village". news.biharprabha.com. IANS. 26 July 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  10. "Visakhapatnam's first startup gets going". Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  11. "Kerala reboots IT plan with 'Startup Village' in Kochi". Indian Express. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
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