The year was 2016. The students of MES College of Engineering in Malappuram, Kerala, were cheering a student sporting a robotic exoskeleton on campus: the brainchild of four friends – Vimal Govind MK, Nikhil P, Rashid K and Arun George.
G-Gaiter, neuro rehabilitation robot from Genrobotics
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Vikas Puthiyakavil
A photograph of the event caught the attention of the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), the nodal agency of the Government of Kerala to support entrepreneurs. The students were contacted and were given the opportunity to do something revolutionary with the technology. Two years later, they launched Bandicoot, a robot that would replace manual scavengers. Their company, Genrobotics, has since then made over 400 robots for 19 Indian States and two Union Territories, and even exported them to Malaysia, Singapore, African countries, and nations in West Asia.
Ten years of KSUM has fuelled a robust startup ecosystem in Kerala. From 300 startups in 2016, the number has crossed 7800, spread across diverse areas. While some have collaborated with KSUM from the conceptualisation stage, the others got support in the form of funding, infrastructure, mentorship and exposure.
The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centres (IEDC), set up by KSUM in professional as well as arts and science colleges and polytechnics, played a key role. Today over 550 IEDCs are functioning across the State, says Anoop Ambika, CEO, KSUM.
(From left) Nikhil NP, Vimal Govind MK, Rashid K and Arun George, founders of Genrobotics
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
“We had made two models of the exoskeleton and by the time the second one was made we had an IEDC in college. Although we wanted to set up a company focussing on robotic technology after college we had to give up that dream due to financial constraints. Once KSUM told us about the grants and funds, we quit our jobs to pursue what we actually wanted to do,” says Vimal, CEO of Genrobotics.
He adds, “It was the KSUM team that put forward the idea of tackling manual scavenging through our technology. Back then we didn’t realise the gravity of the situation (manual scavenging). By the time we received the grant (of ₹10 lakhs), we had understood the scenario and realised that it was the easier and sustainable idea to work upon.”
The technology has already been adapted to clean hazardous, confined spaces as in refineries across India. In addition, they have launched G-Gaiter, a neuro rehabilitation robot for adults and children, currently being used in hospitals in Kerala and South India. Genbot, a multipurpose semi-humanoid robot that can be used in several niche segments, and G Bot, a bipedal general purpose humanoid for human workspaces and homes, are the other products. “The research on developing robotic arms to handle space debris, material repairing etc, is going on at our Dubai centre,” Vimal adds.
Their G Spider, an integrated robotic canal system, had its trial run in Thiruvananthapuram on January 28.
Fuselage Innovations makes drones for agricultural purposes
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Fuselage Innovations Private Ltd, which has emerged a pioneer in drone technology, especially in agriculture sector, is run by Devika Chandrasekharan and her sibling Devan Chandrasekharan. “It was through KSUM that we were able to avail of the grants from the State government. It also helped us to get in touch with several stakeholders in the industry, which eventually got us more orders,” she says. Fuselage has sold over 300 drones, primarily to farmers in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Assam, and Mizoram. Currently working at KSUM’s space at Maker Village, near Kochi, Fuselage is fresh from winning the Aspire Award at the National Startup Awards 5.0 (NSA) in New Delhi.
Devika Chandrasekharan and Devan Chandrasekharan, founders of Fuselage Innovations with their award at National Startup Awards 5.0
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“We have started operations in Canada and the UK. We are also making customised drones for some European countries and Australia,” says Devika, adding that they are working on making a multi-purpose drone, besides those for defence and maritime operations.
In the case of the edtech firm, Unique World Robotics (UWR) India, currently in the news for gifting a desktop robot named after her dog, Gorby, to astronaut Sunita Williams during her visit to Kerala, KSUM came into the picture when the company started its operations in Kerala post the pandemic.
Astronaut Sunita Williams with the pet robot gifted to her by Unique World Robotics. Bansan Thomas George, founder of the company, is also seen.
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UWR has been into AI, robotics and STEM education and research. “Based in Dubai since 2019, when we wanted to set shop in Kerala in 2023, KSUM gave us the assistance we needed. Their involvement opened up opportunities, thus giving us visibility and acceptance,” says Bansan Thomas George, founder of UWR, which holds the distinction of being the largest organiser of NASA’s hackathons covering India, UAE and Netherlands. “When we held the first hackathon in 2023, KSUM stepped in with mentors and sponsorships,” he says, adding the company will soon expand to Qatar and Kuwait.
Support system
KSUM has provided financial assistance of ₹32.31 crore as innovation grants and ₹12 crore as seed loans. Total investment in Kerala startups has touched around ₹6,000 crore.
Initially KSUM used to give idea grant of ₹2 lakhs, that saw many students playing around with ideas. To raise capital, it later came up with schemes such as Seeding Kerala, a curated angel investors’ summit, and Fund of Funds, under which it partners with SEBI-accredited Alternative Investment Funds to invest in the startups, with the State government acting as a limited partner.
Kerala is currently working with 16 venture capital funds. Venture capitalists have invested around ₹207 crore in Kerala startups. Through the scheme, Thiruvananthapuram-based semiconductor startup Netrasemi raised ₹118 crore, the largest investment raised by a semiconductor startup in India. With support from the same scheme, Kochi-based underwater drone startup Irov secured a ₹47 crore work order from the Indian Navy.
In 2017, Government as a Market Place (GAAM) was introduced under which government departments can directly procure products or services from startups and allow tenders exclusively for startups.
A new startup to join the list is CRAV, launched by actor-producer Nivin Pauly and young entrepreneur Ramees Ali at the latest edition of Huddle Global, KSUM’s startup festival, held at Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram last month. Ramees, a law graduate, launched Interval Learning, a one-on-one tutoring platform in 2021 at Areekode in Malappuram, which by 2025 had 50,000 students spread across 65 countries on its roll.
Ramees Ali, co-founder, CRAV
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“Although KSUM was not in the picture when Interval was formed, when we faced problems in 2023 it was their mentors under MIND (Mentor Inspired Networking on-Demand), who helped us. KSUM also opened up new opportunities and gave publicity thus affirming its trust in us,” says Ramees, who exited Interval last year before launching CRAV.
Ramees Ali with actor Nivin Pauly at Huddle Global in Thiruvananthapuram
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A movie buff, Ramees adds that CRAV was born out of the discussions he had with Nivin when they met at Kerala Innovation Festival organised by KSUM in Kochi. “CRAV, a take on the word crave, is an IP factory for animation movies, comics, games etc developed in Kerala. Our content has global grammar but we cannot build a Spiderman or Tom and Jerry or Mr Bean. Our aim is to build IPs that would give long-term revenue. Nivin is clear about what he wants and we have joined hands to execute our passion and vision,” says Ramees, adding KSUM has provided space for CRAV at Kalamassery in Kochi. “We are also planning an incubator in collaboration with KSUM where creators will get assistance to build IPs.”
Anoop Ambika, CEO, Kerala Startup Mission
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Anoop adds that one of the biggest achievement for KSUM has been bringing Zoho Corporation to Kerala, with the opening of their R&D centre at Kottarakkara last July.
KSUM’s coworking spaces are known as LEAP (Launch Empower Accelerate Prosper) and about 350 startups are currently operating in over 20 such centres. KSUM also runs two fab labs (fabrication laboratory), including Super Fab Lab in Kochi, opened in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the only one of its kind outside the US. This is in addition to 23 mini fab labs in various colleges. Alongside, 63 incubators are functioning in various institutions and universities.
Looking ahead
*Startup Infinity – For expats to set up business in Kerala. First centre opened in Dubai and more coming up in Belgium, the US and Germany
*Freedom Square – A space for students to chase their entrepreneurial dreams to come up at Pallippuram in Thiruvananthapuram. Plan is to open one each in every district.
*Startup Pod – To promote workation culture in collaboration with the Department of Tourism. First one will come up at Varkala
* Emerging Technology Hub – Coming up on three acres in Thiruvananthapuram
Besides Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, KSUM has multiple spaces in Kochi, which include Digital Hub and Kerala Technology Innovation Zone that houses Integrated Startup Complex which has Maker Village and Super Fab Lab and at Cyberpark in Kozhikode.
A trailblazer among colleges has been Amal Jyothi College of Engineering in Kottayam, which opened an Entrepreneurship Development Cell under the mentorship of Technopark Technology Business Incubator (TTBI), the precursor of KSUM, as early as 2006. Known as Startups Valley TBI, it has 73 startups, which include incubated and pre-incubated startups by students, alumni, faculty and those individuals outside the campus, says Prof Sherin Sam Jose, CEO, Startups Valley TBI.
KSUM has been holding special programmes to promote women-run startups, besides programmes for persons with disabilities and the marginalised communities. A new scheme for retired hands is also in the pipeline.
Anoop, who has seen the evolution of the ecosystem and is buoyed by the startup boom, says, “Unlike states such as Gujarat and Maharashtra, our society has not been enthusiastic about entrepreneurship. It was something meant for those families who already have business or may be for those children who are not good in studies. Our children were moulded to take up a job rather than do business. But the scenario has changed,” he says.