Kerala Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan on Thursday unveiled a scale-up mission for the State's startups, setting a target of more than 100 companies with annual revenues above Rs 100 crore each, as he inaugurated the eighth edition of Huddle Global 2026 at Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

"Rather than merely aiming to launch 10,000 startups, our focus is on creating more than 100 startups with revenues of over Rs 100 crore," the Chief Minister said, according to IANS, arguing that Kerala must now help its startups scale up and compete in global markets instead of only increasing their number.

Funding and incubators

The government will strengthen support through an expanded Fund of Funds programme and introduce a new debt-funding mechanism bringing together the Kerala Financial Corporation, the KSIDC and banks, so growing firms can raise expansion capital. It has also approved TRICK — Translational Research and Incubation Centers of Kerala — to build 10 world-class research incubators in areas such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology, and announced Gozip, a GenZ Innovation Program for district-level innovation clusters with sector-specific incubation and mentorship.

Huddle Global, organised by the state-run Kerala Startup Mission, runs until November 14 and has drawn about 4,000 startups, more than 150 investors, 300 mentors and 200 corporate organisations. Industries, IT and AI Minister P. K. Kunhalikutty was among those present at the inauguration.

Source: Nation Press

The announcement marks a stated policy shift for one of India's most closely watched state startup ecosystems: from the volume of startups registered to the number that reach Rs 100 crore in annual revenue. How quickly the Fund of Funds expansion and the debt mechanism move from announcement to money reaching firms will decide whether the 100-company target stays a headline or becomes a pipeline.