533 startups in 1,000 days, says Startup Village

The Startup Village here, the country's first PPP model incubator which completed its 1,000th day Jan 10, has so far produced 533 startups, including 116 at campus startups, and created a total of 2,889 jobs with a total valuation pegged at Rs.292 crore, a statement said Friday.

Startup Village was launched April 15, 2012 with the ambitious agenda to create an ecosystem that would fire up entrepreneurial aspirations of youngsters in Kerala.

Since its inception, it received a total of 6,491 applications and a total of 960 (58 physical and 902 virtual startups) were incubated, of which 533 are currently active.

Of physical startups, 56 are currently active and two failed and of the virtual startups, 477 are active and 355 inactive while 70 were aborted.

When launched in 2012, the commitment to the the central government's directorate of science and technology was to incubate 48 startups, raise Rs.2.5 crore through private sector, organise 20 events, make available 10,000 sq ft infrastructure and forge 10 partnerships, in five years.

"And this is where we are after 2.8 years - 533 startups, Rs.4.91 crore as private sector contribution, 102 events, 15,000 sq ft infrastructure and 25 partnerships. We have delivered on all commitments and this has been a result of public and private sector pooling resources on a single mission of creating an ecosystem for entrepreneurship," said Startup Village chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar.

"The biggest recognition for the efforts of Startup Village, comes from the fact that we are collaborating with the Andhra Pradesh government to replicate this model. Launched in December last year, it has already incubated 51 startups there," said CEO Pranav Kumar Suresh.