KOCHI: “The start-up ecosystem is slowly getting in place, thanks to a proactive State government and the country on the cusp of a technological leap with the Smart City project becoming real,” says Aromal Jayaraj, co-founder and managing director of the UK-based Kloudpad, which launched Cloudsys Analytical Labs, its first off-campus research and development wing, in Kochi on Wednesday.
The company, steered by people of Kerala origin based in the UK, already has a presence in the city, where it had set up a facility in 2013 for its tablet PCs.
“We are device manufacturers, and we see manufacturing picking up in the coming years,” he says, adding that the company will now focus on wireless, embedded engineering, and cognitive software like artificial intelligence.
The tablet PC market, he adds, is set to touch ₹30 to ₹40 crore next year. The company is already working with large firms in the country in the fields of smart surveillance and waste management solutions. It is also working on flood alert systems and had even proposed a dynamic feeder bus service system for the Kochi metro.
Staffers shifted
Mr. Jayaraj says the company has shifted around 40 senior professionals to the Kochi campus located off Kakkanad, and when it becomes fully operational, it will have a workforce of over 200 professionals.
“We have aligned this with the UK Smartcity catapult, but the last-mile engineering will be done on the Kochi campus,” he adds.
Catherine Raines, Director General, International Trade & Investment, Department for International Trade, UK, opened the centre in the presence of Bharat Joshi, British Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai.
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