The state-of-the-art digital hub set up by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) in Kochi, which is billed as South Asia's largest product development centre for startups, is now ready and will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday, September 18.
Occupying over 2 lakh square feet of built-up space in Kalamassery, the digital hub has the capacity to support 200 startups. It houses a design incubator, healthcare incubator, Center of Excellence (CoE) for Mouser Electronics, co-working spaces, design studios, investors hive and an innovation centre.
KSUM Chief Executive Officer John M Thomas said that this is being turned into a destination for designing and prototyping and the hub will be open for international organisations and institutions to build world-class products.
"To start with, the hub will accommodate 200 startups giving direct employment opportunities to 2,500 talents," said John.
“The state machineries have taken efforts to democratise digital fabrication methods through such initiatives,” the KSUM CEO said. “This gives Kerala an opportunity to become the ideal destination for designing and prototyping.”
The digital hub will upgrade the skills of the younger generations in design for manufacturing as well as for rapid prototyping, in association with super fablab and academic institutions. Further, the digital hub can minimise entry barriers for hardware startups to relocate, thus creating more opportunities for designers and wooing talents into this sector, the company said in a press release.
Founded in 2006, KSUM is the nodal agency for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities.
The digital hub is the latest addition to KSUM’s Technology Innovation Zone (TIZ) as a global innovation hub for several technology sectors. The zone aims to create world-class infrastructure facilities for multi-sector technology incubators to incubate their startups and to support homegrown enterprises, John said.
TIZ is being established in a 13.2-acre land at KINFRA Hitech Park in Kalamassery. TIZ has a total built-up area of 4 lakh square feet. Currently, its first phase is operational with two buildings: Integrated Startup Complex (ISC) and Biotechnology Incubation Centre, with an overall built-up area of 2.3 lakh sq ft.