Kochi: The troubles of Kerala startups, which were battling dearth of funding, may slightly be over, it seems.
Startups from God’s Own Country have managed to raise funds worth Rs 105 crore ($15.7 million) till September this year. This is encouraging, considering that last year, startups had raised just Rs 132 crore.
Good Methods Global, Purple Health, VST Travels, Zybo Tracking, Sastra Robotics, Fresh to Home and Salesfone are the new ventures that have become investors’ favourites.
“Funding scene in Kerala is growing, albeit slowly than other major startup hubs in the country. It should be noted that most of the ‘seed stage investments’ were done by Kerala-based HNIs. Start-ups which raise fund also increased in number. This signals that more start-ups are benefiting and more investors are participating,” said Robin Alex Panicker, Co-founder, BasilGregory Software Labs, which regularly tracks Kerala startups.
“However, it is troubling to see start-ups that began in Kerala moving their management operations outside the state. Its reasons should be identified and addressed, as it is time to bring the ‘Migratory Malayali’ back,” he added.
A report by Kerala Startup Mission states that 65.1 percent of start-ups in the state are self-funded, while 10.9 percent get funds from family and friends. The rest avail credit/loan. Moreover, only one in 10 startups in Kerala gets any outside funding. In the last three years, Kerala startups raised around `370 crore from investors both inside and outside the country.
“When it comes to funding, Kerala startups lag behind their peers in other parts of India. True, there are no big players for funding in Kerala, but if you have a good product or service, you can effortlessly reach out to investors. Lack of local investor support is a concern for startups here,” stated CongniCor Technologies Co-Founder and CEO Sindhu Joseph.
The state government implemented the Technology Startup Policy, 2014, through its Nodal agency Kerala Startup Mission. Now, the state has a 300-strong startup ecosystem in place.
Source: New Indian Express
