Kerala’s efforts to strengthen its startup environment received a significant boost when emerging startups in the state were guaranteed investments totaling Rs 18.4 crore, opening a new chapter in the government’s initiatives to build a vibrant early-stage ecosystem.
Kozhikode-based Sparks Angel Network and Kerala Angel Network both announced raising investments totaling Rs 8 crore and Rs 5 crore, respectively, in the state’s startups at the “Seeding Kerala” conclave hosted by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM). Phoenix Angels announced that it was making an investment of Rs 3.5 crore, and an additional Rs 1.45 crore was expected from a pool headed by startup entrepreneurs. The Kochi-based real estate firm Humblx, formed in 2018, has received an investment of Rs 40 lakh from GSF Accelerator.
Kerala Startup Mission Seeding Kerala is set up to open up investment routes and to raise investor knowledge of startup investment prospects. Kerala is anticipating an electronics revolution, according to KSUM CEO Anoop Ambika. He asserted that ICT-based products should receive emphasis in addition to the IT services sector.
Entrepreneurs from Kerala received finance of Rs 2000 crore last year. The SaaS industry has the biggest percentage of startups (41.7%). Hardware accounted for 20.8% of sales, while AI, fintech, edtech, and healthcare constituted 8.3%. In the D2C category, Kerala has 4.2 percent startups.
At Seeding Kerala, the Kerala Startup Mission also announced the recipients of this year’s Fund of Funds. Amrita Venugopal, vice president at Siemens, Sanjay Mehta, the founder of investment firm 100X VC, and Tony Thomas, a co-founder of the Zoho Group, gave the keynote address.
Sridhar Vembu, the CEO of Zoho Group, Anish Achuthan, the founder of Open Financial Technologies, and other unicorn company founders and investors spoke at the summit. As part of Seeding Kerala, a Stakeholders Meet was also organized, which was attended by representatives from the public, private, academic, and corporate sectors.
The Investment Cafe hosted a marathon pitching session of chosen startups on the second day of the summit.
