While the good time for start-ups continued in the district in 2015, Infopark, the premier IT park in the State, remained a beehive of activities with its second phase getting off the block.
However, the year got off to an inauspicious start as IT giant Tata Consultancy Services faced rumblings of discontent over the issue of pink slips to some of its employees and SmartCity Kochi, the long-delayed knowledge township project, lived up to its dubious reputation of missing deadlines.
Startup Village (SV), the country’s first telecom incubator, had its reputation further enhanced during the year.
Exploride, a futuristic hands-free head-up display for cars developed by one of its start-ups managed to run one of the most successful crowd-funding campaign by raising over $7,00,000.
Fin, a wearable ring that turned the palm into a gesture interface developed by RHLvision, another SV-based start-up, was launched in the US market in 2015 while Raify Technologies, which developed a cookbook app, was selected among the top developers by Google.
A fab lab spread over 2,600 sq.ft also turned operational in SV during the year.
Young entrepreneurs had more reasons to cheer as Catherine Carlton, Mayor of Menlo Park, home to Facebook and hub of Silent Valley venture capital firms, visited SV with the offer to take 100 start-ups to Silent Valley under a sister city agreement signed with Kochi Corporation.
The city played host to the State-level launch of the government’s ambitious ‘Leant to Code’ programme whereby Raspberry Pi kits were distributed to selected school students and the start-up boot camp through the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Cells in colleges.
Warehouse
NASSCOM, the premier IT body, brought its 10,000 start-up initiative to the city with the opening of a start-up warehouse in the Infopark campus.
Technolodge, the successful rural IT Park, also pitched in by launching its Startup Support Mission.
Kochi joined the WiFi bandwagon after the Corporation turned ten major points in the city into WiFi hotspots.
Realty giant Brigade decided to set up the twin-towered World Trade Centre in the Infopark campus and the first tower of 3.50 lakh is likely to be commissioned early next year.
Infopark’s second phase turned operational with the launch of the Cognizant campus while the first IT building of 4 lakh sq.ft is expected to be open by early next year.
The layoffs in TCS threatened to spiral out of control as CITU-affiliated Association of IT Employees entered the scene to take up the aggrieved employees’ cause.
The drama played out for a couple of months as the issue was taken before the labour department and the State government.
SmartCity Kochi remained off the track compelling the State government to sent chief secretary Jiji Thomson on a fire fighting mission. Since then the construction of the first IT building has picked and is now poised for inauguration in January, but not before missing another deadline in December.
