“Pool a corpus of 50 million USD to back Kerala startups,” Tharoor‘s challenge to HNIs

Dr Shashi Tharoor MP on Thursday threw down the gauntlet to High Networth Individuals (HNIs) of Kerala to create an investment corpus fund worth 50 million US dollars to invest in Kerala startups.

Setting the tone for the Huddle Global 2023, organised by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) at Adimalathura near here, Dr Tharoor challenged the investors and rich people in the state to form a group of 50 and pool one million US dollars each to fund the startups in the state.

“We are ready. Are you?,” asked Dr Tharoor, who represents Thiruvananthapuram in the Lok Sabha. The gathering at the event included investors and venture capital providers.

Giving the keynote speech at the event, Tharoor said Kerala is ready to take up the technological challenges of the world and the Huddle Global 2023 is sending out a clear message on this.

He traced the deep roots of innovation in India and said in early days the word innovation had a negative air about it as it signalled uncertainty. The word disruption that is used widely now also has a similar nature, he pointed out.

“But the message is clear: disrupt or get disrupted”, he warned.

Dr Tharoor pointed out that India has a great strength as developed nations are becoming aged societies. Even in the United States, which attracts migrants from across the world, the average age is 40 while in India it is 29.

The problem India faces is the lower standard of education in many places. But Kerala has overcome that problem and has developed a good education system. That has enabled the state to become a hotspot for research institutions and companies looking for quality talent.

He also pointed out that attitudes of the new generation has evolved with the time and gone are the days of graduates aiming for a job and good career. Many youngsters are looking to be entrepreneurs and becoming startup founders.

Tharoor said the young demography is strength India should take advantage and exhorted the investors and research institutions to tap into the Kerala’s rich talent pool.

Now into its fifth edition, Huddle Global 2023 has a convergence of around 15,000 delegates from within the country and abroad, showcasing the strength of Kerala’s robust startup ecosystem.