The fifth edition of Huddle Global, India's biggest beachside start-up conclave, was organised by Kerala Start-up Mission on 16-18 November.
Published Nov 18, 2023 | 6:25 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 18, 2023 | 6:34 PM
Pannel discussion at the Huddle Global 2023. (X)
Kerala-based start-ups are yet to take full advantage of immense opportunities in defence and aerospace sectors, which have gone up manifold after the launch of “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiatives, panellists said at a session at Huddle Global 2023.
Initiating the discussion, the CEO of Technopark, Retd Col Sanjeev Nair noted that homespun start-ups of Kerala have not leveraged the opportunities thrown up by the iDEX Scheme, which was launched by Ministry of Defence (MOD) to promote, support, and onboard innovative solutions in this critical sector.
A flagship scheme of the MOD, iDEX is funded and managed by the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) to create an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in defence and aerospace by engaging industries, including MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes, and academia.
“The scheme is backed by grants and various other supports. The number of Kerala start-ups that have taken advantage of this flagship project, however, is very less,” Nair noted.
The second day of Huddle Global 2023 was an exhilarating continuation of the event’s insightful and innovative spirit. Here’s a recap of the highlights from Day 2 of Huddle Global 2023. pic.twitter.com/9OuKNv81Xp
— Kerala Startup Mission (@startup_mission) November 18, 2023
With the country pursuing a proactive approach to achieve self-reliance in critical domains, start-ups can take the best advantage of the entire ecosystem that has been created to acquire innovative solutions and technologies in the defence sector, Group Captain Saurabh Shiv of the Indian Air Force (IAF) said.
“IAF, for instance, is looking for indigenously developed solutions that will enhance self-reliance and capacity. Challenge is available, funding is available. The ball is in your court. Please rise up,” he further said, exhorting the nascent companies to foray into the defence sector.
Rajaguru Nathan K, Director, Astromedia Space Pvt Ltd, recalled his company’s journey with the iDEX scheme after starting off as a space-medicine start-up.
Meanwhile, participants in a discussion on “Corporate Innovation and Scaling up with Start-ups” said that corporate entities are ready to engage with dedicated and hardworking start-ups with the right ideas that resonate with their business requirements.
They converged on the view that start-ups aspiring for corporate support and collaboration to scale up their ventures should first have a thorough understanding of the problems they are addressing and how their solutions are going to address those problems to reduce customer pain points.
The panellists, who shared their experience of engaging with start-ups, insights, and perspectives, also noted that in the present-day world, it would not matter where a start-up is located so long as the solutions they come up with meet the demands of the businesses.
Rishabh Ganeriwala, Vice-President of Business Strategy & Innovation, Hitachi Payment Services, Jyoti Pahadsingh, VP-Head of Innovation Practice, Societe Generale Global Solutions Centre, Sweta Aggarwal, Assistant Vice President Innovation, Aditya Birla Group and George Paul, Strategic Alliances and Partnership, Jio GenNext, participated in the discussion, moderated by Vijetha Shastry, Associate Director, Standard Chartered Bank.
The fifth edition of Huddle Global, India’s biggest beachside start-up conclave, was organised by Kerala Start-up Mission (KSUM) from 16-18 November at Adimalathura Beach, near Vizhinjam.
KSUM is the Kerala government’s nodal agency established in 2006 for entrepreneurship development, and incubation activities in the state.
Attended by around 1,500 delegates, the event displayed sophisticated products from emerging sectors such as robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, life sciences, space tech, blockchain, IoT, e-governance, fintech, health tech, agritech, edutech and SaaS from across the country.
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