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Aimed at empowering start-ups in Kerala’s remote areas, the US-based ZilBank’s Founder and CEO, Sabeer Nelli, has announced a start-up accelerator programme with a $1 million funding.
The objective of the programme is to support young entrepreneurs, providing them with proper guidance and infrastructure support to remain competitive in the IT sector, Sabeer Nelli said. At present, most of the start-ups are offering service-related jobs, and there is a need for a shift to emerge as product development firms, he said.
Kerala offers immense potential for start-up development, especially in remote areas which have high talent and the need of the hour is to give them a boost. “Rather than looking at funding, our role is mainly confined to offering them necessary guidance”, he said.
Initially, 10 start-ups will be selected for the $1 million funding within one year and the number will be increased depending on the demand. To evaluate the start-ups for funding, ZilBank is organizing a Hackathon on November 1 at Manjeri in Malappuram district.
ZilBank has already set up a global development centre with a 30,000 sq ft facility in Manjeri and is looking to hire 500 employees this year. “By setting up world-class facilities in remote centres, our aim is to show that far-flung areas can also be facilitators in IT development”, he said.
The start-up accelerator programme and the venture capital fund are expected to multiply the job creation potential of the region and would help transform the IT landscape of Malabar, he said.
Sabeer Nelli, the Malappuram-born US entrepreneur, is known for Texas-based Tyler Petroleum, counted among the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies of America, and the leading B2B payments platform OnlineCheckWriter.com with over 6,50,000 registered users and more than $50 billion in processed payments.
There are also plans to set up a 100-acre campus in Kerala to consolidate all projects under one roof and offer academic training along with industry exposure to students to equip them with new skills and ideas.
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