Why Kerala’s grandparents may be its smartest startup bet
The sea at Kovalam has not changed. The conversation on the stage beside it has. I was last here in September 2019, for what was then called Huddle Kerala, only its second edition. I filed a couple of stories from that beach. One was about a big-tech executive urging the industry to fix the gender […] The post Why Kerala’s grandparents may be its smartest startup bet appeared first on e27 .
The conversation on Kovalam's beach has evolved significantly since a 2019 Huddle Kerala event. In 2026, Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan framed the question not of whether Kerala can build startups, but whether it can create big ones. The state now boasts over 9,200 startups, compared to roughly 2,200 a decade ago. Satheesan announced initiatives to address funding gaps for young companies, including a consortium to issue debt instruments for startups with real customers and revenue.
This move aims to keep founders from having to sell equity simply to grow, a common challenge faced by founders worldwide.
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