Manoj Viswanathan By Express News Service KOCHI: In an initiative to help women in the IT and IT-enabled sector to achieve their entrepreneurial aspirations, the state government has unveiled Women in Nano Startup scheme. The scheme aims to provide institutional help to technically qualified women to launch own startups and work from their personal space while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. “We launched a pilot project in January this year. The first batch focuses on content writing, while the second is about quality assurance. The training will end in March and we are planning to announce the programme in April,” Kerala Startup Mission CEO Saji Gopinath told TNIE. The training of the first batch commenced at Kerala Technology Innovation Zone campus in Kochi on January 27. Among the 120 applicants, 20 were selected to the first batch. The projects can be service-based or products in various domains including design, quality testing, content development or digital marketing. “The concept is to help women start nano startups with just one or two members. There is no need for an office and the women can work from their personal space. The selected candidates are given training in three levels to hone their skills and to manage an enterprise. Their work will be continuously evaluated during the training period and feedback will be provided based on evaluation,” he said. The candidates for the pilot project were selected from alumni associations and women groups functioning in Technopark. “There are several women techies who are unable to return to work due to family compulsions. This is a scheme to provide them with an opportunity. The response is tremendous and we are planning to launch it in a big way to promote women entrepreneurship,” said Saji Gopinath. The government has set aside `10 crore for the project in the budget. To make women self-reliant The scheme aims to provide institutional help to technically qualified women to launch own startups and work from their personal space while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. The training of the first batch commenced on Kerala Technology Innovation Zone campus in Kochi on January 27. The candidates for the pilot project were selected from alumni associations and women groups functioning in Technopark.

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