Kochi-based Startup Village setting up centre in Silicon Valley

Startup Village, a Kerala state government-backed telecom incubator located in Kochi, is setting up a centre in Silicon Valley in the US to provide Indian tech startups a launch pad and a co-working atmosphere with foreign startups in the Valley, CEO Sijo Kuruvila George told Techcircle.in.

The Village has joined hands with Rajeev Motwani Foundation in the US. Motwani was a professor of Computer Science at Stanford University and an early advisor & mentor to Google founders and many other startups in the Valley. His wife, Asha Jadeja, has started the Rajeev Circle, which offers mentorship and investment to promising startups. Asha is helping the incubator to connect with the Silicon Valley.

"The new centre will provide opportunities for young entrepreneurs to understand the US market and interact with similar companies. However, the exact modalities of the centre are yet to be finalised," said George.

As part of the initiative, the Village, in association with the Kerala government, has announced a contest for school and college-going students in the state. Winners will get a chance to meet and interact with the likes of Google and Facebook founders in March this year, said Sanjay Vijayakumar, chairman of Startup Village.

How to get selected

The initiative, called SV Square (Startup Village to Silicon Valley), has been launched today (Jan 31). The competition requires students (8th standard onwards) to upload a 2-3-minute video of their projects on YouTube. A jury comprising Anil Gupta of IIM Ahmedabad and former Nasscom president Kiran Karnik will select the winners. Entries will be accepted on SV Square website from Feb 1-10 and winners will be announced on Feb 10.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)