List of 23 start-ups to watch out for in Kerala released

Headstart Kerala, a not-for-profit organisation supporting early-stage entrepreneurs and start-ups in the State, on Thursday released its annual list of 23 start-ups to watch out for this year.

The list has been published in partnership with the Kerala Startup Mission, IDFC Bank, and Bigin CRM from Zoho.

The list features a diverse range of start-ups from various sectors, including healthcare, education, technology, and social impact. They were selected from over 250 applications.

These start-ups have been selected based on their potential to disrupt their respective industries and make a significant impact in the market.

They cumulatively created over 2,500 intellectual employment opportunities in Kerala and generated over ₹100 crore in revenue during the last financial year.

Among the chosen start-ups, 86% were technology product companies from multiple sectors. 24% were from med-tech, 15% of start-ups from gaming and entertainment, 25% from hardware, and 16% accounted for segments such as fintech and ed-tech.

Around 84% of founders were first-generation entrepreneurs and 62% had females in their founding teams.

The list was evaluated by jury members including Anoop Ambika, Chief Executive Officer, Kerala Startup Mission; Arun Nair, Executive Director, Tie Kerala; K.C. Chandrashekhar Nair, former Chief Financial Officer, Technopark, and Gautham Sivaramakrishnan, Lead – Market Networks & Platforms, Blume Ventures.

“We are excited to recognise these start-ups, which we believe have the potential to make a significant impact on their respective industries. Headstart Kerala is committed to supporting and enabling the growth of the start-up ecosystem in Kerala, and we are confident that these start-ups will be at the forefront of this growth,” said Headstart Kerala Chapter head Mittu Tigi.

Headstart now works with government organisations such as Startup India, StartupTN, Kerala Startup Mission, Niti Ayog, BIF, and other corporate organisations like AWS and Meta to enable the start-up ecosystem. It has presence in over 30 cities across India and Europe.