Kochi: The Andhra Pradesh government has started discussions with Kochi-based Startup Village, seeking their support and expertise to set up a similar incubation facility in their state.
A high-level delegation led by IT Advisor to Andhra Pradesh government, J Satyanarayana, met Startup Village Chief Executive Officer Pranav Kumar Suresh and Infopark Chief Executive Officer Hrishikesh Nair at Startup Village in Kalamassery yesterday. It is a sign that the success of India's first public- private partnership technology business incubator, which has transformed IT entrepreneurship in Kerala, is beginning to make other states sit up and take notice. "We are really impressed with Startup Village and its functioning. We want to set up an incubation facility of a similar kind in Andhra Pradesh and are in consultation with the team here," Satyanarayana said.
The Andhra delegation comprised Ajay Sawhney, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister; Sanjay Jaju, IAS, Secretary, ITE&C; and Phani Chandra, Consultant, Ernst and Young. They took a look at the facilities being provided to young innovators kick-starting their businesses from Startup Village and discussed the Student Entrepreneurship Policy launched by the Kerala government to promote the entrepreneurship culture among the youth. "Startup village is a dream to create a billion dollar campus. When that dream becomes every state's dream, it becomes a reality. We are very happy to see that our idea has become a trendsetter. "The fact that a state like Andhra Pradesh, which got on relatively early on the IT bandwagon when compared to Kerala, should look to Startup Village for inspiration shows just how far we have come in these past two years," said Startup Village Chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar.
Ajay Sawhney, Principal Secretary to the AP Chief Minister, lauded Kerala's Student Entrepreneurship Policy. "We want to create a similar ecosystem in Andhra Pradesh for promoting young entrepreneurs particularly by recommending to device a policy on the lines of the one in Kerala," he said. Pranav said the delegation was "excited about the facilities and the kind of ecosystem we have created for the youngsters. We discussed about the support provided by the state government, the different levels of mentoring we provide to the startups and how we have managed to reach to student community in the colleges," he added.
