IIMK LIVE, the business incubator of the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK), in collaboration with Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), has sanctioned₹1.8 crore in seed funding to six promising early-stage start-ups under the USHUS initiative—India’s flagship maritime sector start-up support scheme.
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The six startups selected for this round of funding include:
- Wroxai Pvt Ltd, Coimbatore
- Hyetron Energy Pvt Ltd, Chennai
- EyDelta Pvt Ltd, Bihar
- Xtent Innovations Pvt Ltd, Calicut
- Mafkin Robotics Pvt Ltd, Jaipur
- Xera Robotics Pvt Ltd, Chennai
With this round, a total of 4.4 CR has been sanctioned under the USHUS program to support 14 startups, of which 2.1 CR has already been disbursed to 8 Startups. The current round alone accounts for 1.8 CR in sanctioned support to six startups, further accelerating sustainable and scalable innovations in the maritime sectors. The seed-funding award ceremony was held in the presence of senior representatives from CSL and IIMK LIVE, including Prof. Ashutosh Sarkar, Executive Director, IIMK LIVE, and Dr. Krishna Prasad S (Senior Manager), Harikishen E.S. and Bindu Krishna (Assistant General Managers) from CSL. Formal agreements with the startups were signed to initiate disbursement and mentorship support.
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Expressing delight over the development, Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, Chairman IIMK LIVE and Director, IIM Kozhikode added, “At IIM Kozhikode, we believe that India’s maritime legacy must be reimagined through entrepreneurial innovation. USHUS exemplifies how academia and industry can co-create platforms that nurture young ventures with both purpose and potential. Through IIMK LIVE’s partnership with Cochin Shipyard Limited, we are not just funding startups—we are catalyzing a new wave of indigenous solutions that can sail India’s blue economy towards a more sustainable and self-reliant future.”
Shri Madhu S Nair, CMD CSL, congratulated the selected start-ups and expressed his optimism, stating, ” The USHUS programme of CSL has, so far, generated over 70 high-skilled employment opportunities for talented young professionals and is playing a significant role in indigenizing scalable sunrise technologies. With the addition of six more start-ups, we hope to further strengthen our contribution to the development of indigenous deeptech solutions and support maritime start-ups in scaling their innovations.”
A joint initiative of IIMK LIVE and Cochin Shipyard Limited, USHUS was launched to foster an innovation-friendly ecosystem in India’s maritime sector. The program aims to equip early-stage startups with comprehensive support—technical, regulatory, financial, and market access—by converging key stakeholders in the sector. The funding provided under the program can be used for operational and capital expenditures, including working capital, fixed asset acquisition, and other critical business needs. The initiative also places a strong emphasis on the scalability and job creation potential of supported ventures.
