Additional Benefits Available

For startups in Kerala

Kerala, dubbed as ‘God’s own country’, has been counted among the ten natural paradises of the world by National Geographic Traveler for its stunning backwaters. In recent years, apart from its status as a forerunner in Indian ecotourism, Kerala is also coming into its own as a leading startup ecosystem. As the eighth largest economy in India, with a dominant service sector and excellent connectivity by road (4.62km per thousand population as compared to the national average of 2.59km), Kerala’s infrastructure is ideal for the development of a thriving business ecosystem. Over the course of a few years, Kerala has built a model that identifies, nurtures and promotes innovation and talent within the state. With over 1,500 startups already in existence, more and more entrepreneurs are flocking to Kerala to start their next venture and make the most of the relatively low cost of operations, skilled manpower and focus on modern technology.

If the startup is registered in Kerala, The startup will get eligible for the following schemes in addition to the accelerator program:

Govt. as a Market-Place

Kerala Government, in its IT Policy 2017 has indicated Government’s intent to help the startups by becoming an early adoption market for startups. Kerala Startup Mission being the nodal agency for the startup in the state has been coordinating this by acting as a facilitator between the Government and the Startups.

In the last 2 years Kerala Startup Mission has been closely working with various Government departments for addressing their needs through startups. In order to effectively help in finding solutions for various department Government of Kerala has given provision for Department for procuring Directly from startups without any tender process upto Rs 20 Lakhs.

Kerala Startup Mission will be facilitating this process. The startup who feels that their product ideally suites the requirement of a particular department could submit the product details through KSUM.

Innovation grant

Technological changes through innovations and R&D has been the main driving force for increased productivity, economic growth, and social transformation and for reshaping and redefining every sphere of our lives. Hence innovations are being extensively promoted globally. Govt. of Kerala has introduced the Scheme, Innovation Grant.

The following types of Innovation Grants are given to encourage innovation and help Startup transform their innovative ideas to scalable ventures.:

  • Idea Grant
  • Productization Grant
  • Scaleup Grant

Through Innovation Grant scheme, KSUM provides financial assistance up to 12 Lakhs.

Seed Loan

KSUM Seed Support scheme provides Collateral Free loans limited to Rs.10 lakhs at the rate of 9%  P.A interest with a moratorium period of 12 months. 3% interest discounting will be given for prompt and non-default repayments.

International Exposure Scheme

The International Entrepreneurship Exchange Programme is a combination of schemes aimed at giving the students and young Entrepreneurs of the State maximum exposure to the international startup ecosystems and also to foster cooperation between startup ecosystems across the world.

The programme involves taking student/young entrepreneurs to the most advanced/mature startup destinations, such as the Silicon Valley, Menlopark, USA, London,Tokyo, Tel Aviv, etc for an exchange programme where they interact with the startups/clients in that ecosystem. This will enhance marketing/funding opportunities for the local startups and also give an International exposure for their products.

The financial support for startups could be upto 50% of the travel cost and 100% of the visa charges  for the Business Development Activity for up to 2 startup founders. Startups will also get a chance to be part of International delegations and Launch Pad programs.

Funding

KSUM is partnering with SEBI accredited Venture Capital Funds for the creation of corpus fund for supporting the emerging startups in the state. The Funds shall be investing in early-stage startups with a ticket size of Rs. 25 lakhs - Rs.200 lakhs.

Based on the Kerala Technology Startup Policy 2014, GoK launched the Kerala Startup Corpus Fund, a first of its kind initiative in India for supporting the upcoming entrepreneurs. AIF (Alternative Investment Funds) investments are the largest source of capital for start-ups. In addition to finance, such AIFs also bring intangible value-add to the startups by opening connections for networking and market access and also by providing them with strategic and operational guidance

Investment Plans By The On-boarded Aifs:

  • Unicorn Ventures

Ticket size: INR 50L to INR 10 Cr. 
Stages of investment: Early stage, Pre-series A, Series A

  • SEA Fund

Ticket Size: INR 50L to INR 1Cr. 
Stage of investment: Pre-series A

  • Speciale Invest Fund I

Ticket Size: 50 Lakh to 200 Lakh 
Stages of Investment: Seed, Pre-Series A

Ticket Size: 
Seed stage : Upto Rs. 1.2 crores (with Angel Investors investing Rs. 4.8 crores)
Pre Series A : Upto 15 crores in investment rounds of ~Rs. 40 crores with other VCs / Strategic Investors investing the balance. 
Stages of Investment: Seed, Pre-series A

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