THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A ‘landing pad’ in Silicon Valley and opportunity to interact with young start-up icons are the highlights of the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (YEDP) of the state government. The government has granted administrative sanction to the Rs 30-crore programme.
It involves setting up of 50 more startup boot camps, distribution of Raspberry Pi kits to 6,000 schoolchildren and two more mini fablabs in universities or incubation centres of academic institutions.
The landing pad for the state's young entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley to be set up at Menlo Park in California is part of the international entrepreneurship exchange programme.
The initiative is a follow-up to the twin-city project initiated during the visit of Menlo Park mayor Catherine Carlton to the state earlier this year.
It will help the startups get more funding options and to work from an international platform.
As part the programme, student entrepreneurs would be taken to start-up destinations like London, Tokyo and Tel Aviv to learn and interact with young honchos of brands like Facebook and Evernote.
The authorities have earmarked Rs 2 crore for this under the YEDP. The Kerala Startup Mission will conduct and support a host of promotional activities and workshops to give more exposure to entrepreneurs.
Seed support for start-ups and promotion of innovations would also be undertaken by KSUM, for which Rs. 8 crore has been earmarked.
Apart from the distribution of Raspberry Pi kits to students from the eighth standard, entrepreneurship development programmes with the support of IT@School are also planned at schools under the YEDP.
The programme also includes a series of sessions in leadership training in association with agencies and institutions like ICT Academy and NASSCOM.
