Maker Village is a joint venture of MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India), Government of Kerala through KSUM (Kerala StartUp Mission), IIITM-K (the nodal agency) and Startup Village. The main objective of the incubator is to promote consumer electronics-based innovation and set up labs and innovation centres that focus on the current trend and emerging technologies of disruptive nature. The electronics incubator at Kalmassery houses electronics workbenches and incubation spaces for entrepreneurs, a do-it-yourself laboratory (DIY) for experimentation and research and development, a full-fledged medium-volume manufacturing line for building prototypes and finished products. The DIY Innovation center will cater mainly to emerging areas in the maker culture. The Microprocessor and Microcontroller area will have all the latest trailblazers of DIY proponents like Arduino and Raspberry PI aimed at inspiring the startup community to create innovative electronic products.
The Facility and Equipment
A 25,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility is in the KINFRA Hi-Tech Park in Kalamassery, Cochin, Kerala, close to large ESDM manufacturing facilities. An annexe of 700 sq ft has opened in IIITM-K.
Equipment: Test and measurement equipment, standard boards (eg. Arduino and Raspberry Pi), ECAD stations, Fab Lab with 3d printers and scanners. The medium-volume SMT (surface-mount technology) manufacturing line, run by a partner, is capable of industry-strength production of Printed Circuit Boards, and is a unique strength of Maker Village.
The incubation process
The entrepreneur can be engaged in two phases: a) pre-incubation (idea to proof of concept, 3 months) and incubation (concept to prototype, 18 months). Late in incubation, they are eligible for seed funding, and can be introduced to funds such as Electronics Development Fund and private early stage investors.
Selection, mentorship, advice, acceleration
Potential candidates can apply at http://www.electronicsincubator.in and are selected after an evaluation by an expert committee. Screening happens on a monthly basis. They are given technical and business mentorship, and provided acceleration through marketing, legal, IPR, finance partners.
Status
- Facility ready, some equipment arrived, assembly line about to be installed
- Since June, a total of eleven pre-incubatees and incubatees selected, now on board
- Outreach to students, young professionals, subject matter experts, business mentors
Contacts: http://www.makervillage.in or rohan.kalani@iiitmk.ac.in (Director, Ops) 95670-90250
Centre for Innovation and Technology Incubation (CITI)
CITI has been set up to promote innovation and entrepreneurship by converting and translating innovative and creative ideas of young minds in various disciplines of science and engineering to achieve excellence in research, products, processes and services to maximize its impact on industry and society. To accomplish its goal, CITI would facilitate incubation of new enterprises with innovative technologies by providing seed support with financial, physical, technical and infrastructure level. This will also bring an industry-academia convergence for bridging the skill gap in order to address the real needs of the industry and academia.
