Kerala tops states’ Startup Ranking 2022, ‘proudest moment’, says CM Pinarayi

New Delhi: Kerala has been recognised as the best performer in the fourth edition of the States’ Startup Ranking (2022) of the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry along with Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal revealed the entire list of rankings on the occasion of National Startup Day here on Tuesday.

“Proudest moment as Kerala topped the 4th edition of States’ Startup Ranking by @DPIITGoI. It comes as a testament to Kerala’s unwavering commitment in fostering a robust startup ecosystem, exemplified by a series of initiatives under @startup_mission. This propels our prospects of becoming a knowledge economy,” Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan posted on social media platform X.

The Best Performer’ is the top most startup ranking level, followed by the ‘Top Performer’ title. Nine States were classified as emerging ecosystems this time. Kerala had won the ‘Top Performer’ title for the last three years for providing institutional support to startups, students and women entrepreneurs, besides providing nascent companies enormous opportunities to interact with investors through programmes such as IGNITE. The state’s efforts to encourage startups involved in bringing about ambitious changes in the rural sector also enabled the southern state to win the laurel.

Committed towards vibrant ecosystem: Anoop Ambika
Commenting on the achievement, Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) CEO Anoop Ambika said the state achieved the result following its committed measures towards sustaining a vibrant ecosystem and an incubation system backed by modern technology and policy support.

“We are implementing a comprehensive policy forgiving an impetus to the startups in the state. In 2002, Kerala had topped in all the seven sectors on which the Centre had called for reformation, he recalled. The result today reflects the state government’s uncompromising attitude that made the path towards startup development obstruction-free,” he said.

The areas where Kerala emerged the national topper were resource development, investment leadership, procurement leadership, sustainable development, incubation, mentorship services, innovation and best institution. Of the 5,000 startups registered under KSUM, 250 have entered the market, the statement said adding that more than a 100 of them are run by women entrepreneurs.

The state has 50 incubators across its 14 districts. KSUM holds five awareness programmes annually for the state’s government employees and 15-plus projects to mobilise investments. Kerala has more than 40 startups engaged in renewable energy, eco-sustainability, climate change and rural development, the statement added. KSUM, which was established in 2006 under the Kerala government, works for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.
(With PTI inputs.)