Kochi: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday said that the state was poised to become the Startup capital of India with the UDF government’s policies in the last two years beginning to show positive results.
Inaugurating TiEcon Kerala 2013, the two-day conclave of entrepreneurs here, Chandy said that 500 students had so far availed of attendance and mark benefits under the student entrepreneurship policy announced at the Emerging Kerala meet in 2012.
The policy, a first in India, ensures 20 per cent attendance and five per cent grace mark for students launching technology startups in the state.
The Chief Minister said that the state also saw 1,400 technology startups springing up across the state in the last two years, most of them at the Startup Village here, launched in April 2012.
“The state government will be the largest angel investor creating disruptive global startups in the coming years,” he promised young entrepreneurs and asked senior entrepreneurs to chip in with the efforts.
Describing internet as the great equaliser in society, Chandy said that the government was working to link online classrooms with real life classrooms and the quality of education would reach international standards soon. “With many open online courses like Coursera, our students can learn from the best of global universities like Stanford, Harward or MIT,” he noted.
For the success of entrepreneurship, what we need is the will to stand alone and fight the odds, said Ashok Rao, chairman of TiE Global while delivering a special address at the function. “Stick to the goal and stand alone,” he said.
