StartUp Village to have resource centre by July

StartUp Village, a Kochi-based technology business incubator, is about to launch a digital platform by July to serve as a knowledge resource centre offering mentorship and entrepreneurial advice.
StartUp Village, launched in 2012, is a 50:50 partnership between the Department of Science and Technology and mobile Internet service provider MobMe.
"The Start-Up Village was designed only for 50 start-ups but we have had over 6,500 applications and we have mentored over 500 start-ups so far. Since we launched the incubator the start-up ecosystem has exploded, and a digital platform will help us offer better resources to more startups," StartUp Village chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar told PTI.

MobMe, where Vijayakumar is the co-founder and chief executive, has developed the digital platform through in-house resources.
The StartUp Village, where ex-Infy boss Kris Gopalakrishnan is the chief mentor, is the first successful public-private partnership for incubating start-ups, and is being replicated in Vishakhapatnam as well.
By the end of February, StartUp Village had said in a statement, it had surpassed the targets with the total valuation of start-ups pegged at Rs 292 crore.

The digital platform will follow a model where it identifies the top 100 startup ideas on merit based on the interest generated on the online platform - and offer mentoring, advising and funding help.

"Once the first 100 graduate to raise their own money, we will take on the subsequent 100 and so on," indicated Vijayakumar.
Mobile app Chillr, launched by HDFC Bank last month, which allows users to instantly transfer money to any contact in their phonebook, was incubated at the StartUp Village.