Kerala was featured in the 2021 Global Start-up Ecosystem Report (GSER) as one of the top 20 global ecosystems in terms of affordable talent, which is an encouraging development for start-ups in the state during the COVID pandemic, KSUM said on Sunday.
Kerala Start-up Mission (KSUM), in a release said the report also ranks the state as the fifth Asian Ecosystem in the affordable talent category.
“The 2021 Report, which ranks the leading 140 ecosystems across the globe, analyzes and evaluates the start-up markets based on the seven parameters of performance, funding, connectedness, market reach, resource attraction, experience and talent,” the release said.
The GSER is the world’s most comprehensive research on start-ups, with 280 entrepreneurial innovation ecosystems and three million start-ups being analyzed, and was conducted by Start-up Genome and the Global Entrepreneurship Network, it said.
KSUM worked closely with Start-up Genome to highlight Kerala’s strengths against ecosystems globally, it said
Kerala’s standing in GSER 2021 was based on four criteria — its ability to hire tech talent, the creation of 43 million dollars in ecosystem value with 4.6 million dollars in total early-stage funding over the last two and a half years, start-up support and government as an early adopter was cited as another reason why a start-up should move to Kerala and finally, the talent, support and start-up activity in the Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Analytics sectors, the release said.
Welcoming the development, Dr Saji Gopinath, Vice Chancellor of Kerala Digital University, said, “As a University which focuses on innovation and startup entrepreneurship as an important component of modern day learning, this recognition to Kerala’s start-up ecosystem is highly significant for us.
“Maker Village, the incubator under Digital University (IIITMK), is one of the largest electronic hardware start-up ecosystems in the country and is supporting several start-ups in deep tech areas. Through applied research and knowledge creation, Digital University will continue to play a key role in further development of the state’s start-up ecosystem.”
KSUM, founded in 2006, is Kerala government’s nodal agency for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.