Maker Village Plans Kerala’s First Largest National Level Hardware Startup Conclave at Kochi

KOCHI:
India’s largest hardware electronic incubator ‘Maker Village’ has planned a one-day National conclave, the first of its kind in the state on March 10, seeking to give a push up to hardware start-ups and the hardware eco system by bringing together all the key stake-holders connected to this space.
Around 1200 participants, including hardware startups, officials from Centre and state governments, industries, technology firms, funding agencies, accelerators, hardware incubators, branding gurus and academic institutions from across the country will attend the event, to be held at the Gokulam Convention centre at Kochi.
Prasad Balakrishnan Nair, CEO, Maker Village, said the event assumes high significance in the present scenario in which the Government is giving key thrust on building a robust hardware electronic manufacturing industry.
“There’s an accelerated thrust given by the Central and the state governments on creating a vibrant hardware start up eco system as the precursor for the development of electronic system design and manufacturing industry,” he said.
Besides, the event would bring together all the key stake holders in the hardware domain such as policy- makers, technology providers, fund managers and the start-ups under the single roof, Balakrishnan said.
Acclaimed national and international speakers and business leaders will make presentations and interact with the participants at different sessions of the conclave. The topics to be covered will include ‘ Next Gen’ Technologies in the Hardware and the seed to market strategies relevant to the Hardware.
Exhibitions by industries, technology firms, service providers and start-ups, Design for Manufacturing Workshop by BRINC accelerator Hong Kong & Barcelona, One-to-One Pitching with Fund Managers for the Start ups have also been planned on the sidelines.
‘Pitch Perfect’, a pitching competition for the start-ups in which highly qualified and experienced judges will assess their start up products where they will get a chance to win prize money on the spot, will be a key attraction of the event.
The participants will get two minutes for presentations. The judges will assess them from both the technical and management sides. There will be three judges, each with a prize money of Rs 10,000 and it’s up to the participants to grab the maximum amount up to Rs30,000 from them.
Parallel sessions by Electronic Development Funds ( EDF) for One-to-one with selected Hardware Start ups will also be organised. Hardware Start-ups from all parts of the country are expected to attend this event.