Aiming to boost entrepreneurial capabilities, Nasscom launches start-up warehouse in Kochi Nasscom has initiated start-up warehouses across different states to create a micro-ecosystem, where many start-ups and entrepreneurs can work together.

To accelerate its effort to reach out to maximum number of entrepreneurs, NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies) today inaugurated a start-up warehouse in Kochi in presence of P.K. Kunhalikutty, Minister for Industries and IT, Government of Kerala and P. H. Kurien, IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of Information Technology.

The start-up warehouse has been launched in support with the Kerala Govternment to build entrepreneurial capabilities in the state of Kerala, create a vibrant community to connect investors, mentors and start-up entrepreneurs, and building tech-entrepreneurship as a preferred career option. The warehouse will be managed by NASSCOM's 10,000 Start-ups program.

Speaking on the occasion, Oommen Chandy, Chief Minister, Kerala Government, said, "Exactly 3 years from today, Kerala state announced the student entrepreneurship policy when more than 300 student start-ups came into force. The State Govt. will extend all support for the 3rd NASSCOM Start-up Warehouse at Infopark, Kochi, to ensure this collaboration gets more tech entrepreneurs in the fore front.

Started in April 2013, 10,000 Start-ups is an ambitious attempt by NASSCOM to scale up the start-up ecosystem in India by 10x. With the vision to foster entrepreneurship, it aims to enable incubation, funding and support for 10,000 technology start-ups in India over the next ten years. Its program has initiated start-up warehouses across different states to create a micro-ecosystem, where many start-ups and entrepreneurs can work together and share their experiences with each other.

"Start-ups are a critical pillar for the sustainability of the IT Industry, as they are fuelling innovation, ensuring job creations and enabling sustained revenue generation. India is emerging as the nerve center for the global start-up movement and Kerala pioneers initiatives that complement this growth. This is a milestone for us at NASSCOM as Kerala joins the league of 10,000 Start-up's revolution," said Rajat Tandon, Vice President, NASSCOM 10,000 Startups.

The steering committee of Start-up Warehouse, Kochi includes Dr. Jayasankar Prasad, CEO, Kerala Start-up Mission, Hrishikesh Nair, CEO, Infopark, Mukund Krishna, CEO, Suyati Technologies Private limited, Sunil Balakrishnan, Global Head for Development Center Operations, UST Global and Ashok Madaravally, Deputy Director, NASSCOM 10,000 Startups. 6 start-ups, CIED, Agrima Infotech, Janta Solutions, GeoSpice Location Intelligence, Quadproso, and Rabitech have been shortlisted who will be operating out from today onwards.

"The necessity to develop increasingly refined skills is driving the evolution of culture. By efficiently channelling technological and creative skills of the youth to solve existing problems, the state aspires to foster an entrepreneurial culture, which contributes to increased knowledge, employment and societal wealth. Through this strategic partnership with the Government of Kerala, NASSCOM aims to help build an entrepreneurial eco-system in Kerala which leverages technology to bridge gaps between different strata of the society," said R. Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM.

In 2013, NASSCOM 10,000 Startups launched its first start-up warehouse in Bangalore followed by its second warehouse in Kolkata. It further announced Start-up warehouse in Navi Mumbai & Pune in support with Govt. of Maharashtra and recently in Gurgaon in support with Govt. of Haryana. Since inception of Start-up Warehouses, 76 start-ups have got incubated so far both from Bangalore and Kolkata, from which 20 per cent start-ups got funded and 10 per cent got acquired. The program is supported by Google for Entrepreneurs, Microsoft Ventures, Kotak, IBM, and AWS.

"Kerala is one of the front runner innovative cities and poised to grow faster in the near future with a very entrepreneur friendly IT Policy. Kochi is also home to many engineering colleges and innumerable technical institutes. Some of India's best institutes are in the State. Hence, Kochi is natural choice like Bangalore, Kolkata and Gurgaon to have exactly similar start-up warehouses with support of the respective state governments. This centre will provide early stage start-ups with highly affordable co-working space conveniently located in the center of the city, thereby establishing Kochi as one of the emerging destinations of global businesses and start-ups," said Ravi Gururaj, Chair, NASSCOM Product Council.