Kochi: BPCL to provide grants and investments to two startup ventures

KOCHI: PSU Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited has agreed to provide grants and investments to two highly promising startup ventures at Maker Village, managed by IITM-K, under its flagship Project Ankur that aims to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation nationwide.

BPCL is offering to support further development of an Underwater Drone created by EyeROV Technologies and a Cattle Milking machine that enables early detection of dairy cattle diseases, developed by Resnova Technologies, a release issued by Maker Village said here today.

Aravind Krishnaswamy, General Manager (Strategy) BPCL exchanged MoUs with Jijo Paul, CEO at Resnova Technologies and Johns T Mathai, CEO at EyeROV Technologies, at the Maker Village at Kinfra Park in Kalama.

BPCL and Kerala Startup Mission are now working together to find promising new startups to support.

Innovative ventures that are in need of funding can get in touch with KSUM and the selected ones could earn grants.

"It is great that companies like BPCL are coming forward to support startups in the country. KSUM would be actively working with initiatives like Project Ankur to help startups reach market faster," said Saji Gopinath, KSUM CEO.

BPCL's Krishnaswamy said "Compared to other states, Kerala has a very good system for the promotion of startup cultures. Projects like the KSUM and Maker Village are bringing the best out of the startups." "When BPCL was looking for the best ideas to grant funds to, Kerala came into the picture and we were happy to support these deserving ideas," he said.

The EyeROV drone can dive 50 meters deep into the water to gather data and is expected to find applications in various fields, including for the Police Department, Fire and Rescue, and the Navy.

Resnova's cattle milking machine that doubles up as a disease diagnostic tool could potentially be of invaluable assistance to dairy farmers to tackle cattle diseases before they become full-blown epidemics.

Project Ankur scheme of BPCL offers financial aid to startups with significant business potential and social relevance.

In all they have allocated a Rs 25 crore for the promising ventures that are selected.

"It is a moment of pride for Maker Village that our startups should be the first to be chosen by BPCL for funding through Project Ankur," said Prasad Balakrishnan Nair, CEO, Maker Village.

"These innovations are an example of the great work that is being done by our startups and an indicator of more such ideas that will emerge in the future," he said.

P Padmanabhan, former Managing Director of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd, Assam and Rohan Kalalni, COO of Maker Village, Kochi, were present at the signing of the MoU today.