Kerala Targets 100 Start-Ups With ₹100 Cr Revenue Each
Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan said the state would focus on helping existing start-ups scale up and achieve commercial success, with a target of creating more than 100 companies generating annual revenues of ₹100 crore each.
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala will shift its start-up strategy from promoting entrepreneurship to helping existing companies scale up, achieve commercial success and generate higher revenues, Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan said.
Addressing the inaugural session of Huddle Global 2026, organised by the Kerala Start-up Mission (KSUM), he said the state aimed to create more than 100 start-ups with annual revenues of ₹100 crore each.
The three-day festival brought together entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders and policymakers to explore opportunities in technology and innovation.
Satheesan said Kerala became the first state in India to adopt a structured technology entrepreneurship policy in 2014.
The initiative had helped build an ecosystem of more than 9,000 start-ups, employing over 76,000 people.
“While having close to 10,000 start-ups is a good achievement, the strength of an ecosystem should not be measured merely by the number of start-ups it has, but by how many of them succeed,” he said.
The government would strengthen the ecosystem through increased funding, research and development support, incubation facilities and better access to working capital.
It also planned to raise innovation and R&D grants and seed loans to help early-stage companies expand without unnecessarily diluting equity.
The state planned to establish 10 research and incubation centres focusing on artificial intelligence, optics and biotechnology.
It would also strengthen links between academia and industry through courses aligned with emerging employment trends.
Satheesan said 14 partner venture funds had invested nearly ₹250 crore in Kerala-based startups through the state’s Fund of Funds programme.
The government would attract more funds to support emerging businesses.
Highlighting opportunities around the Vizhinjam International Seaport, he said the government planned to integrate the state’s ports and related infrastructure to develop Kerala into a port-based economic hub.
The next phase would focus on taking local companies to global markets, particularly in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, robotics and climate technology.
Industries minister P.K. Kunhalikutty said the government aimed to make Kerala a global investment and entrepreneurship destination.
Actor and entrepreneur Keerthy Suresh said creativity, experimentation and risk-taking were essential to technological innovation.