Startup Village to Set Up Digital Knowledge Resource Centre by July

Startup Village, a Kochi-based technology business incubator, is about to launch a digital platform by July to serve as a knowledge resource centre offering mentorship and entrepreneurial advice.

Startup Village, launched in 2012, is a 50:50 partnership between the Department of Science and Technology and mobile Internet service provider MobMe.

"The Startup Village was designed only for 50 startups but we have had over 6,500 applications and we have mentored over 500 startups so far. Since we launched the incubator the startup ecosystem has exploded, and a digital platform will help us offer better resources to more startups," Startup Village chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar told PTI.

MobMe, where Vijayakumar is the co-founder and chief executive, has developed the digital platform through in-house resources.

The Startup Village, where ex-Infosys boss Kris Gopalakrishnan is the chief mentor, is said to be the first successful public-private partnership for incubating startups, and is being replicated in Vishakhapatnam as well.

By the end of February, Startup Village had said in a statement, it had surpassed the targets with the total valuation of startups pegged at Rs. 292 crores.

The digital platform will follow a model where it identifies the top 100 startup ideas on merit based on the interest generated on the online platform - and offer mentoring, advising and funding help.

"Once the first 100 graduate to raise their own money, we will take on the subsequent 100 and so on," indicated Vijayakumar.

Mobile app Chillr, launched by HDFC Bank last month, which allows users to instantly transfer money to any contact in their phonebook, was incubated at the Startup Village.