Palava Accelerator Invites Tech Startups to Help Build Cities of the Future

KOCHI:
Kochi, an educational hub and One of India’s Largest Startup ecosystems, is poised to become an emerging hub for tech startups in India. Palava Accelerator, launched by Lodha Group India’s No.1 real estate developer (by residential sales for FY 17 and the 9 month period ended 31st December 2017) and Zone Startups, the accelerator operated by Toronto-based Ryerson Futures Inc., is inviting startups in Kochi in a bid to promote the tech-entrepreneurship spirit of the city.

Palava Accelerator organised a road show in the City which was themed around ‘How to sell to the real estate players?’A packed audience comprising of entrepreneurs and corporate professionals attended the event where 5 startups made a pitch in a bid to get selected into Palava Acclerator program. Palava Accelerator, launched in November 2017, is an initiative to identify new age technology companies ranging across smart city solutions, real estate tech, hyperlocal commerce, sustainable development and analytics and provide them a platform to test their products/services at scale.

The test bed is the Palava City, India’s No.1 Liveable City ranked by JLL, spread across 4500 acres. Startups accepted into the Palava Accelerator program receive support and services including co-working office space, free residential options, business development support, an opportunity to pilot their products at Palava City, access to high quality investor networks, mentorship programs and networking events. The program provides early stage companies a test bed and launch pad for their businesses.

Since the launch, the accelerator program has mentored 15 startups at various stages. The startups are from varied technology domains such as CleanTech, Governance, Ed-tech, Fintech to name a few. Lodha Group is envisioning to develop Palava into a “pedestrian first” smart city, designed to have all basic necessities within walking distance to enhance the quality of life and to solve the problem of inadequate public transportation.

Palava is positioned as a “model of urbanization” in an emerging economy such as India that is focused on developing new cities due to urban migration. Utopia, an outdoor light automation platform, is one of the notable examples of a successful pilot at Palava.

The company provides a cost effective and smart way to automate street lights as per time of day, and track faults, if any. The solution was piloted at Palava and later at other locations such as ISB Hyderabad and IIT Bombay. Lodha Group has also become a corporate customer to the company.

Another startup helping Palava to achieve its goal, is FingPay, which is enabling Aadhar-based payments across all retailers in Palava and provides residents with a cashless transaction experience.  We are here in Kochi, to identity relevant startups that are a fit for the accelerator program. The program will help selected startups to do a proof of concept (POCs) in Palava, as well as help with extended connects in the larger Mumbai startup ecosystem.