: With Kochi fast emerging as a prominent IT destination among tier II cities, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has decided to set up an office in the city.
It will come up alongside the proposed Startup Warehouse to be set up by Nasscom inside the Infopark campus. The office will turn operational simultaneously with the Warehouse by August.
The premier IT trade body has an office at Thiruvananthapuram. The setting up of the Kochi office will make Kerala the only state after Maharashtra to host two Nasscom offices.
“The main objective of setting up the new office is to engage with the fast growing city,” said Purushothaman K., senior director of Nasscom in charge of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry on the sidelines of Nasscom product conclave here on Friday. M.S. Sujith Unni, Nasscom’s deputy manager at its office in Thiruvananthapuram, will move to Kochi to set up the office.
Nasscom has lined up three sessions of Startup 20:20, a three-day entrepreneurial promotion programme held in college campuses, in three cities, including Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi from July by bringing together students from ten campuses at a time. Already two such sessions were held in Thrissur and Kozhikode.
“We chose to hold it in Kerala at the instance of Technopark Technology Business Centre (T-TBI). That T-TBI has entrepreneurship development cells in campuses would make its organisation easier,” said Mr. Purushothaman.
He said that there is an ideal startup eco system in the State with the convergence of all four stakeholders–government, industry, media, and educational institutions. With the initiatives of Startup Village, TTBI and Nasscom, the State is likely to witness a lot of activities in the next couple of years, he said.
Meanwhile, Nasscom was buoyed by the extent of participation at its second edition of Kochi product conclave. Five best product start-ups selected by a jury were given time to showcase their products at the conclave.
