Startups in city gain momentum

Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) has reportedly confirmed that it would invest funds ranging between Rs 1 and Rs 3 crore in three startups based at Maker Village in Kalamassery. A few days ago, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has agreed for an equity-based investment to Tranzmeo, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup in Kochi. Earlier, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) also selected six Kochi-based startups to be funded as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) CEO Saji Gopinath said that Kochi, despite being a Tier-II city, has been gaining momentum as one of the leading startup ecosystems in the country and the rising trend of PSU funding is a proof of the quality of startups here.

“The startups eligible for funding have been selected through stringent and multiple levels of screening procedures. It is a proud achievement for Kerala startup sector that our startups managed to meet the criteria for selection. What started as a CSR initiative has now become investments for the companies, which means they acknowledge the quality of Kerala startups,” he said.

As many as nine Kochi-based startups have become eligible for funding from PSUs, mainly oil and gas companies, either through grants or equitybased investment. The companies that were selected by BPCL for their grants are EyeROV Technologies Pvt Ltd, Sastra Robotics India, Nava Design & Innovations, Waferchips Techno Solution, Resnova Technologies and Genrobotic Innovations.

Apart from BPCL’s grant, EyeROV has been selected by GAIL to make an investment and buy its shares. Featherdyn Private Ltd and CEAD are the other companies selected by GAIL for equity-based funding. All the eight companies are based at Maker Village in Kalamassery, which is a startup incubator with 65 startups.

Tranzmeo IT Solutions Private Ltd, based in Infopark, is reportedly the first AI startup in Kerala to get funding by a Fortune 500 company. HPCL agreed for an equity-based investment of an undisclosed amount in Tranzmeo, which has developed ‘T-connect OneView’, a comprehensive anomaly forensics application, which runs on data streams to impact energy industries.

HPCL will also be a member of Tranzmeo’s board of directors.

“The grants from BPCL range between Rs 35 lakh and Rs 1.5 crore. GAIL’s investment will be between Rs 1.5 and Rs 3 crore. In return, they will own 13-19% share in respective startups. As many as 12 companies are currently pursuing the screening procedures for funding from HPCL and Indian Oil Corporation,” said Maker Village CEO Prasad B Nair.