KSUM Announces Second K-Accelerator Cohort for Startups

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
After the successful graduation of the first cohort of K- Accelerator, Kerala Startup Mission(KSUM) and Zone Startups India have announced its second cohort to look out for high-tech, high potential startups from Kerala seeking to expand their industry connects and scale up customer conversions.
K-Accelerator Monsoon Batch 2018 has been designed as a three-month virtual progamme with one-week residential session in Bengaluru or Mumbai, aimed at giving national level exposure to start ups who have generated traction.
K- Accelerator was born out of the need to identify and nurture startups who can build and scale world-class products from Kerala and beyond, thereby bringing about economic growth in the state by creating jobs, wealth and favourable business conditions in the state, one of the earliest hubs of Information Technology in the country.
After success of its first round, the programme is now being curated to focus on B2B start-ups, under a hybrid delivery model that includes virtual and physical hand-holding sessions by leading mentors, world-class investors and prolific industry connects.
The application for the programme, which has a fee of Rs 50,000 per startup, is alredy on, with August 17 as the deadline. This will be followed by the selection pitch on August 23 and announcement of results on August 25.
The programme will start on September 3 with the residential boot camp scheduled on November 1. The Demo Day and Investor Pitch will be held on November 3.
The (KSUM) is the nodal agency of Kerala Government to promote entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state. Zone Startups is the global brand of tech accelerators and early stage venture funds operated by Toronto-based Ryerson Futures Inc., a subsidiary of Ryerson University.
“Kerala has a large number of startups with products which have potential to lead in national and global markets. Through K-Accelerator program Kerala Startup Mission and Zone Startups India aim to provide the right platform for these startups to realise their potential,” said Saji Gopinath, CEO, KSUM.
“We have been very pleased with the quality of startups that we got to work with during the first cohort of K-Accelerator. We see this program as a platform for emerging tech startups from Kerala to leverage our existing industry connects and network of mentors and advisors,” said Ajay Ramasubramaniam, Director, Zone Startups India.
“With a strong local talent pool, Kerala definitely offers an edge to startups for scaling. We are looking to nurture and scale startups from Kerala, and further build on the local entrepreneurship ecosystem.” Ramasubramaniam added.
The primary objective of KSUM is to create and promote an ecosystem that provides necessary support to technology-based startups to grow, create jobs and add value.
Startups in Kerala have begun to stretch their limits by focusing more on future technologies and creating solutions with highly innovative methods, in ways that have not been experimented with before. Multiple success stories have been written about entrepreneurs from Kerala, across different sectors, other than the traditional Software and IT.
Zone Startup India was set-up in 2014 as a joint-venture of Ryerson Futures Inc., Bombay Stock Exchange Institute, Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, B.C) and the DST (Govt. of India). Its portfolio includes over 160 startups, of which nearly 55 have gone on to raise a cumulative of $ 60 Mn in venture funding.
Zone Startups India has established a very strong footprint in the country’s startup ecosystem through its niche programs such as empoWer, Next BIG Idea Contest and a number of corporate accelerators and innovation programs. The applications for the second cohort are open now at https://startupmission.kerala.gov.in/programs/k-accelerator/ , products startups who are at early revenue to growth stage who are solving problems in the B2B space must apply.