The Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) has been recognised as the world’s top Public Business Accelerator by UBI Global, a Stockholm-based company, based on the World Benchmark Study which ranks business incubators and accelerators.
The honour for the KSUM, the nodal agency for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the State, was announced at the World Incubation Summit for the Best Programmes in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday by UBI Global, a company known for intelligence, assessment, and mapping of business incubation.
“The Kerala Startup Mission demonstrates exceptional value for client start-ups, value for the local ecosystem, and overall attractiveness as a programme. Following a rigorous data-driven approach, we assessed and benchmarked incubation programmes across the world,” said a press note citing Holger Meyer, Director of Research at UBI Global.
This year’s UBI Awards and Recognition Gala event, held at the Museum of Islamic Art, released the top lists of business incubators and accelerators as assessed in the World Benchmark Study 2019 -2020.
Commenting on the award, KSUM CEO Saji Gopinath said, “It will spur us to sustain the momentum in providing a congenial incubation ecosystem in Kerala and tapping into creative energies of young minds.”
As many as 364 programmes located in 78 countries were selected after assessing and validating the data received from programmes seeking knowledge about them through the study.
The KSUM, which is responsible for policy framework and implementation of the start-up schemes in Kerala, supports the start-up ecosystem through different components such as infrastructure, human capital development, funding, governance, Public-Private Partnership, global collaborations and scaling existing and establishing new start-up ventures. It promotes entrepreneurship at different levels — from schools to start-ups.
Top start-up destinations
A report compiled by digital media platform Inc 42 in association with TiE Kerala points out that Kerala has emerged as one of country’s top start-up destinations marking an impressive compound annual growth of 17% since 2012, taking the total number of ventures based out of the State to 2,200 and displaying high competence in netting funds worth $89 m till date, In 2019, start-ups raised $44 m funding spread across 13 deals.
“In 2019, the Indian start-up ecosystem recorded 553 funding deals, which together crossed the $9 b funding mark. Interestingly, it is Kerala which has emerged as one of the top start-up destinations of the country,” says the report.
