Startup Village rolls out new 'FINTECH Studio' scheme

The first batch of the selected teams under the 'FINTECH' Studio scheme will have focus on developing real- time technology solutions for banking and financial industries. Photo: Onmanorama

Kochi: The Startup Village has rolled out its 'FINTECH Studio' scheme, to enhance innovation and entrepreneurship. Startup Village has partnered with the Federal Bank in the first phase of the scheme.

In the first phase of the scheme, a total of 40 teams comprising five students each will be selected from colleges across the state.

The first batch of the selected teams will have to work on the theme 'FinTech,' which will focus on developing real- time technology solutions for banking and financial industries.

Each team is expected to develop a prototype of their idea/application on the given theme within a time span of six months, starting from July.

The teams will receive a 'Startup Box', each of which contains an iPhone 6, iPad mini, Macbook Air, Nexus 5, Kindle, 1 TB Hard disk and Arduino Starter Kit, besides a company registration deed, a bank account opening form and an application form for the state's Student Entrepreneurship Policy, the release said.

'Kerala Startup Mission,' also known as the Technopark - TBI, in Thiruvananthapuram, will be the nodal agency for the programme while the Startup Village, a public-private initiative, will be the implementing agency.

The startups will get full incubation support from Startup Village and financial expertise from Federal Bank.

"The recently rolled out Kerala Technology Startup Policy envisions creating an entrepreneur-friendly ecosystem. Startup box is one among the state's entrepreneurship-oriented initiatives for the financial year 2015-16," said P H Kurian, Principal Secretary, Industries and IT.

"The initiative will also help students get world class equipment for a digital technology startup," he added.

The teams will ideally consist of members with skills in programming, designing, operations and governance.

The selected teams are to be integrated with Startup Village's Startup Studio 'FinTech Accelerator Programme', which is run in partnership with the Federal Bank.

(With agency inputs)