The Startup Yatra of Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) selected 10 innovative ideas at the boot camp held at the National Institute of Technology Calicut (NIT-C) here on Tuesday.

Over 30 pitched ideas were presented at the sixth edition of the boot camp aimed at nurturing aspiring entrepreneurs in Kerala’s tier 2 and 3 cities.

It was organised in association with the Technological Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) and Technology Business Incubator (TBI) of NIT-C, a news release said.

More than 200 participants attended the boot camp. There was a van stop at Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIM-K) on Monday.

The next boot camp will be held at Meenangadi Polytechnic College, Wayanad, and a van stop at Kasaragod on Wednesday.

As part of the Yatra, eight boot camps and 14 van stops have been planned across the State’s 14 districts.

The boot camps, to be held at colleges and universities, will conduct ideation workshops and idea-pitching sessions for students.

Aspiring entrepreneurs can pitch their ideas to a panel and the winners will get an opportunity to participate in a two-day acceleration programme with a leading incubator.

At the end of the programme, the short-listed candidates will be able to pitch for offers by incubators as well as incentives by the State government.

Incubation support

The Yatra will conclude in a grand finale at the Park Center, Thiruvananthapuram, on November 26-27. The winners will get prizes totalling ₹10 lakh, besides incubation support.

KSUM organised the ‘Startup Yatra’ in collaboration with Startup India, the Central Government’s flagship initiative to empower startups through innovation and design.

The primary objective of the march is to identify promising entrepreneurs from the State’s smaller cities, offer them support in terms of incubation and mentorship from renowned institutions and also help them tide over the lack of resources.