Thiruvananthapuram: U.S. Consul General Chennai Mariana L Neisuler visited Technopark along with a delegation from the U.S. Consulate Chennai to get a closer view of Keralam’s vibrant IT ecosystem and Technopark’s world-class infrastructure.
The delegation led by Mariana L Neisuler held discussions with senior officials and stakeholders from Keralam’s IT and startup ecosystem during the visit.
Seeram Sambasiva Rao, IAS, Special Secretary, Department of Electronics & IT, Government of Keralam, held a meeting with Mariana L Neisuler in the presence of Sandeep Kumar, IAS, CEO, Technopark, and Anoop Ambika, CEO, Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM).
Noting that it was her first visit to Keralam, Mariana L Neisuler appreciated the state’s focus on logistics, maritime, energy, and IT. She encouraged stakeholders in these sectors to crystallize their ideas to attract US companies to Keralam.
Highlighting Keralam’s reputation as a progressive state in the country, Seeram Sambasiva Rao sought the support of US firms to promote the state as a knowledge industry hub and establish Centres of Excellence in universities through collaboration between higher education institutions in the US and Keralam.
“We also have a great startup ecosystem in the state with the presence of around 10,000 startups. As part of scaling up startups, we are looking for setting up startup accelerators in the state for which US accelerators can open their centres in Keralam. It will contribute in a big way to set as a model for the country,” he said.
The discussions involving Mariana L Neisuler and Keralam officials also focused on opportunities to strengthen collaboration between the US and Keralam across key sectors, including IT, startups, higher education, and knowledge industries.
Karthik Selvaraj, Political and Economic Specialist, U.S. Consulate Chennai, and Geetha Gopalakrishnan, Political and Economic Specialist, U.S. Consulate Chennai, also accompanied the Consul General.
The U.S. Consulate delegation led by Mariana L Neisuler also visited the Fablab at the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K) and deep-tech robotics company Genrobotics, situated at Phase I of Technopark.
The visit provided the delegation with an opportunity to view Technopark’s infrastructure and engage with representatives from Keralam’s IT and startup ecosystem.
Also present at the meeting were Vasanth Varada, Dy VP (Marketing & Customer Relationship), Technopark; Sreekumar V, Centre Head, Tata Elxsi; Rony Sebastian, CEO & Founder, Softnotions Technologies; Vinodh Nair, Site Lead, Equifax PEC Trivandrum;
Rajesh Babu, CEO, Mirox Cyber Security; Geethu Sivakumar, CEO, Paceexcel; Jayan Nair, Centre Head, Tata Consultancy Services – Thiruvananthapuram; Vishnu V Nair, Head of External Affairs, IBS Software; Eapen Toni John, CEO, GTech;
Varun G, Project Director, KSUM; George Jacob, Sr. Manager, Marketing, Technopark; and Lead IT Strategists Dr. Anoopa Narayanan, Sreenath Njaneswar and Prakash Jacob Mathew.
The engagement involving Mariana L Neisuler, Technopark, Kerala Startup Mission and representatives from the state’s IT ecosystem highlighted opportunities for greater engagement between US companies and Keralam’s technology and startup sectors.
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