Staying and ideating together, the start-up way

A young and successful Kerala-based entrepreneur is leading by example and piloting an ‘impact sourcing’ project in the State.

Also known as socially responsible outsourcing, ‘impact sourcing’ is an arm of the business process outsourcing industry that employs people from the base of the pyramid.

Varun Chandran, Founder and CEO of Corporate360 (C360), a Big Data software start-up based in India and Singapore, will soon open the State’s first rural IT park to be wholly owned by a start-up.

This will be the first co-working, co-living start-up rural ecosystem here, Chandran told BusinessLine . The 12,000-sq ft facility in Pathanapuram in Kollam district will have 200 co-working seats and co-living space for 30 start-up entrepreneurs.

Chandran’s firm C360 offers SaaS-based marketing data cloud software for B2B marketers to help discover sales leads, ideal buyer contacts, technology installations and competitive intelligence.

With 40 executives in five countries, it is a fast-growing multi-million-dollar revenue company with over 240 global customers.

Coming back to the proposed rural IT park, Chandran says selected students and entrepreneurs from Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki and Alappuzha districts will now have access to internship, mentoring, and seed funding.

C360 will partner with the Kerala Startup Mission and Innovation Entrepreneurship Development Centres in colleges in these districts to provide workspace and mentorship.

With the new office in Pathanapuram, C360 aims to create 100 jobs this year, Chandran says: “Two years ago, we began our start-up journey with a five-member team operating from a restored tourist home facility here.”

By opening offices in Tier- II towns, the company plans to ‘impact-source’ and create meaningful jobs and promote digital skill development among the educated youth in the rural areas.

“This is going to change a lot of things. Imagine a situation where graduates from rural areas do not need to move to the big cities for work or start-up incubation,” Chandran said.

“There is an opportunity to leverage digital economy on a permanent basis to create employment, improve the confidence and digital skills of young people from smaller towns and C360 would like to set an example by expanding offices to Tier-II towns in Kerala.”

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