Aimed to create a pool of entrepreneurs, the Kerala government is planning to spawn a number of campus incubators in major engineering and management colleges in the State to help nurture start-ups.

‘Facilitate breeding’

“The idea is to equip college students to start their own enterprises by the time they leave campus,” M Beena, managing director of Kerala State Industrials Development Corporation, which has recently taken several initiatives to kick-start entrepreneurship in the youth, told BusinessLine . “We want to facilitate the breeding of start-ups in partnership with the colleges.”

Strong foundation

She said a few incubators have already been set up. The campus incubators will mentor the would-be-entrepreneurs, equip them with practical knowledge and link them up with potential funding sources. Beena noted that because of initiatives taken by the government, a ‘start-up climate’ was taking shape in the State. However, most student entrepreneurs were interested in IT and ITES. She said angel investors and venture capital funds were showing keen interest in start-ups in Kerala. Non-resident Indians, looking for investment avenues, are also ready to invest in such new ventures Beena said that picking up from last year’s highly successful Young Entrepreneurs Summit (YES!), which helped whip up entrepreneurial curiosity on Kerala’s campuses, the KSIDC is now planning got a sequel to it called YES! CAN 2015. ‘CAN’ stands for Collaborating and Networking and hence the event will aim to create interlinks among start-ups across the country and among incubators. Angel investors, looking for viable ideas, would be attending the event scheduled to be held on September 12 in Kochi.

Indian Software Product Industry Round-Table (SPIRIT) and Private Equity and Ventures Capital Association have been roped in as partners. Founders of several successful start-ups will attend the event as speakers and mentors.

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