The Kerala government has decided to observe September 12 every year as the state Entrepreneurship Day besides targeting to earmark one per cent of the state's annual Budget for entrepreneurship development activities.
The announcement came on the sidelines of an event marking the logo launch of Young Entrepreneurs Summit (YES), a flagship event to establish Kerala as a vibrant entrepreneurial state.
Chief minister Oommen Chandy today formally launched the logo of YES in Thiruvananthapuram. YES is being organised by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), under the aegis of department of Industries and department of IT.
The summit will be held on September 12 at Kochi, in association with Technopark-Technology Business Incubation Centre (T-TBI), Technopark, Infopark, Kinfra, Start Up Village, TiE Kerala and CII.
The event will showcase the existing facilities and support services available to prospective young entrepreneurs helping them realise business dreams.
YES will also highlight the combined initiatives of various agencies working for driving innovation to create a holistic ecosystem conducive for young entrepreneurs.
Around 2,000 participants comprising students and faculty from higher educational institutions, representatives from industries and trade bodies, identified business and technology mentors would attend the meet.
The chief minister said the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme, launched two years, had received overwhelming response from the state's youth.
He said the Startup Village at Kinfra Hitech Park, Kalamassery, would be developed into a 13.2 acre 'Multi-technology Innovation Incubation and Business Accelerator Ecosystem'.
This would consist of around 450,000 sft physical space to house a minimum of 1,000 startups at one go, and would also provide common facilities like testing labs, conference halls, dormitories, mentors' guest rooms among others The project would be completed by March 2016 with an investment of Rs 150 crore, which is to be shared equally by the state and the Centre.
Industries minister PK Kunhalikutty said the objective of YES was to instill an entrepreneurial mindset in the youth of Kerala and the event should be viewed as the commencement of a journey, and not an end in itself. KSIDC and the other agencies in the state would, accordingly, endeavour to reposition themselves to facilitate the new paradigm sought to be ushered in into the state through this flagship initiative, he added.
The state government had earlier, as part of the Emerging Kerala conclave in 2012, announced a Student Entrepreneurship Policy. This initiative triggered a number of young prospective entrepreneurs to come forward and start enterprises in Kerala.
To catalyse and support such initiatives, as a follow-up, the state government proposes to launch an Angel Fund, which would provide the initial seed capital for the startups.
KSIDC and KFC would contribute to the fund to be set up with contribution from successful entrepreneurs in the state. Such successful entrepreneurs will also be listed as 'Business Mentors' who would handhold the start ups. Technology mentors would also be identified from within and outside the state. KSIDC would also extend value-added services, like mentoring and hand holding, to new entrepreneurs along with advisory services and market linkages.
