Business incubator for NRIs to come up at Infopark- Kochi

The incubator is a joint initiative of Technopark- TBI, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, Non Resident Keralites Affairs Department and Infopark-Kochi Kerala will set up India’s first Technology Business Incubator (TBI), exclusively for non-residents Indians.

Speaking at the   Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here on Wednesday, chief minister Oommen Chandy said the number of NRIs venturing as entrepreneurs in Kerala was quite disproportionate compared with their inward remittances — $55 billion is being remitted to the country annually from  around  25 million NRIs across the world.  Therefore, a dedicated TBI focused on NRIs was the need of the hour, he said.

The incubator is a joint initiative of Technopark- TBI, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India,   Non Resident Keralites Affairs Department and  Infopark-Kochi.

The state IT department has allocated 2,500 sft space at Infopark-Kochi to set up the initial operations of NRI-TBI. Similar facility will be set up at different technology parks across the state, including Technopark Kollam and Cyberpark Kozhikode.

This first of its kind NRI-TBI model has plug and play office space, mentors and consultants from various fields along with value additions like green channel facilitation, remotely accessible office, managed talent pool etc, said Infopark CEO, Gigo Joseph.

The thrust areas of NRI-TBI include future farming technologies (vertical farming, hydroponics, etc); electronic and embedded systems; telecommunications and mobile technology; green energy technology; technology application and services for oil & gas industry, tourism, logistics, e-commerce, e-branding, e-tailing and e-learning.