Huddle thrives despite the squeeze

“Only in Kerala would a historian be invited to speak at a technology summit,” said author William Dalrymple while addressing the audience at Huddle Global 2024, held last week in Kovalam, Trivandrum.

This remark underscored the unique character of Kerala’s flagship technology event which serves as the premier platform where Kerala’s startups showcase their potential and try to connect with gatekeepers of global markets.

Dalrymple added a historic perspective to the conclave by citing records that show how entrepreneurs from this region were engaged in global trade even during the Roman era.

The Scottish historian said despite such key global role earlier, India has failed to claim its rightful place as an ancient centre of knowledge and economy, unlike China and Greece.

Efforts to rectify this are minimal, he noted, pointing out that only 10 percent of the area where the ancient Takshasila University once stood has been excavated – despite the rising power of the chest-thumping nationalists.

Dalrymple’s observations about powerful entities failing to “walk the talk” must have resonated with some in the audience, especially as the Kerala government had slashed Huddle Global’s budget despite its repeated promises of promoting technology ecosystems in the state.

Last year, TikTalk Newsletter had praised the Kerala Startup Mission for its innovative approach of hosting the event at Adimalathura Beach, which brought unprecedented vibrancy to the gathering. However, the 2024 edition's return to Hotel Leela in Kovalam due to budget constraints disappointed many.

While Kerala's financial challenges are well-documented, cutting funding for an event like Huddle Global seems short-sighted. Such platforms are crucial in shaping a prosperous future, and budget cuts can send discouraging signals through the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Nonetheless, the three-day event maintained its signature energy, delivering a memorable experience despite financial constraints. As mainstream media had covered the key happenings, we thought we will try and capture the perspectives of those who took part in the event.

Amalu Lakshman, DaveAI, Bangalore

We were unaware of Huddle Global and, frankly, were somewhat underprepared. The event proved to be an excellent platform for a firm like ours, which is looking to scale up in sectors such as banking and automobiles. We gained numerous leads and opportunities to schedule calls.

The restriction of only two passes per stall confined us to the expo area, handling inquiries, and prevented us from attending many talks held at other venues. Allowing more participants per stall would have enabled us to rotate and take part in all the sessions. Additionally, we did not bring props or devices due to the limited space available.

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Amila Anjum, RISE, Academic Incubator, Malappuram

Huddle Global was an excellent platform for networking and fostering collaborations. Representing an academic incubator, I found the event highly insightful, offering valuable opportunities to connect with investors, mentors, and startups.

One suggestion would be to extend the duration of structured mentoring or introduce follow-up mechanisms to help participants sustain and build upon the connections made during the event.

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Anil Joshi, Unicorn Ventures, Mumbai

If you ask me about the level of speakers, the quality of topics, or even the entrepreneurial ecosystem, I’d say they’ve improved every year. One notable highlight this time was the presence of ministers, including the Chief Minister himself, at the venue. He participated in a very engaging roundtable discussion with a select group, where the intent was genuinely to listen. Their approach was serious and unique, reflecting the government’s commitment.

The event, however, needs a larger space. The exhibition area was so cramped that it was difficult to move around. This lack of space likely forced the organisers to limit the number of startup stalls. If they wish to continue at the same venue, they’ll need to be more creative. With sufficient planning and the hotel’s cooperation, they could make much better use of the available space.

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Arun, Beyond Snack

We received numerous inquiries from entrepreneurs, foreign investors, banks, and others—far more than ever before. Our brand name has gained significant recognition, and with a primary focus on Kerala banana chips, we were consistently promoting the Kerala brand.

At events like this, inquiries come to us naturally. During a typical marketing drive, it can be challenging to convert people into customers. However, in this setting, potential customers approach us, making it much easier to convert them into actual clients.

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Athira, Ignosi Enterprise

Ignosi is a FinTech company based in Technopark and we were participating in Huddle for the first time. The event proved invaluable for networking, and I had the opportunity to meet many potential clients. It also provided insights into the challenges faced by other companies and strategies to address them. Personally, I gained several innovative ideas from the interactions at Huddle. I believe these ideas can be effectively utilised to enhance our company culture.

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Felix Josmon, Kerala Product Hunt

My primary focus at Huddle was the KPH Masterclass, as it provided an opportunity for our community to meet offline and engage in meaningful conversations. I’m grateful to the Huddle Global organisers and Kerala Startup Mission for facilitating this platform.

For the next Huddle, I hope to see participation from other impactful communities like KPH, such as MuLearn, which was notably absent this time. This was unfortunate, as such groups have extensive networks across the state. If the organisers could arrange an annual gathering for these communities alongside Huddle, it would greatly enhance the event. Additionally, organising sector-specific meetups, such as for those in e-commerce, would be beneficial. Bringing together people with shared interests would create more focused and productive interactions. Another suggestion is to include more Malayalam-speaking experts, as most of the sessions currently rely heavily on English. 

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Jeena, Futuremug, Idukki

We participated in Huddle for the first time, and we were able to connect with many companies in Kerala. We received over a hundred name cards from this event alone. We were fortunate that our stall was right at the entrance. As for improvements, having 3 or 4 people per stall would have been helpful. Also, if the stalls were organised according to sectors, it would be easier to locate them.

Despite taking a stall, we had to pay for two delegate passes, which we believe was due to a miscommunication. For startups, this adds to the financial strain, especially if we need to bring in a sales team as well. Additionally, the differences between the gold and diamond passes offered for delegates were unclear, leaving us unsure about the value each option provided.

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Nisha Roseline, Nansei, Puducheri

This was my first time attending, and I found the stall area a bit cramped. Others who had attended previous editions mentioned that the space was larger before. Considering the footfall we experienced, a bigger space would have been more suitable. That said, the event has been excellent overall. We learned a lot and discovered many new startups, making it a valuable learning experience for us.

For improvements, better organisation of the lunch area would be helpful. Having a single opening for both entry and exit created bottlenecks, leaving many delegates stuck. Another suggestion is to open the expo to the public for a limited time, perhaps on the final day. While people outside are aware that something significant is happening, it remains inaccessible to them. Allowing public access with a limited pass could be a great way to involve them.

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Ritika Jhagta, IIST

Huddle is an excellent platform for startups, and we were excited to interact with the many investors who attended. We will now be following up by emailing them our pitch decks, and we’re hopeful about securing investments. The highlight for us was undoubtedly the visit from ISRO Chairman Somanath to our stall. On the final day, we also had the opportunity to interact with Shashi Tharoor, which was another memorable moment.

For future editions, we’d love to see even more startups participating and a larger space allocated for the expo. The area was very congested, and it became challenging to showcase our prototype properly when more than two or three people visited at once. The space constraint was a significant drawback.

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Sandip Nair, Venttup

Huddle Global 2023 marked the starting point for our company, where we had the opportunity to meet many people. Last year, everything was about building connections. While we didn’t attract many investors, we gained some valuable mentors, which helped us grow over the past six months and prepare for another round of pitching, resulting in attracting investment. A year later, we still have to introduce our company to many people, but thanks to the connections we made last year, about 20 percent of the visitors now recognise us.

For future editions, it would be beneficial if the organisers could arrange the expo area into distinct sectors, such as fintech, B2B manufacturing, and AI. This would make it easier for the audience to identify areas of interest. With so many startups present, visitors often have to search through the expo area to find relevant stalls, and in doing so, they may miss out on some key ones.

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Shehin, Arun, Storygame

Last year, we collected over a hundred visiting cards from people we interacted with, but this year, it’s not even half of that. One reason is the narrow pathways in front of the stalls, which caused congestion and made people move quickly without stopping to engage. Last year, there was enough space for visitors to linger and have conversations with us, but this time, there was no room for that. If the food area space had been used for the expo, it would have provided much more area.

Looking ahead, we think it would be beneficial to bring in more visitors from outside the state, perhaps through better marketing of the event. Also, returning to the location of Huddle 2023 would be a great option. 

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Silpa, Nanograf

This event attracts a diverse range of people, with visitors ranging from 18 to 70 years old. It offers a great opportunity to get a sense of the tech world in Kerala, which is why I truly enjoy this event. We use a new technology and even though our product is a novel one, we received many queries.

The venue, however, was quite crowded, and a larger space would have definitely been beneficial. One suggestion we have is to better organise the expo area by categorising companies rather than placing them randomly. Segregating sectors such as software, hardware, biotech, fintech, and others would help attendees focus on the areas that interest them most. This time, we had to approach each stall to learn about the businesses, which could have been more efficient with clearer sector grouping.

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Vaibhav, Vishnu, Unibotix Innovations

This was our first time at Global Huddle, and it was an exciting experience, as we made numerous connections and received potential customer inquiries. However, we would have liked to attend more events, such as Master classes by experts and sessions with investors, but we were tied up at the expo area, introducing our products to the crowd.

The placement of stalls in the limited space was a disadvantage. It would have been helpful to have a brochure or map for participants. If such a feature were added to the Huddle app, it would have been very beneficial. The lack of clear directions contributed to the chaos on the first day.

A memorable two years

ChatGPT has just turned two years old, which reminds us that the TikTalk Newsletter will also hit this milestone in just a few weeks. While we won’t compare their 200 million daily users with our readership, it’s worth remembering that we launched this newsletter on 19 December 2022, with a focus on ChatGPT. At the time, we speculated on the possibility of Google losing its crown as the search engine king. This seems to be materialising, with US authorities now targeting Google under anti-monopoly rules. The Analytical India Magazine even reports that the word “Googled” is being replaced by “ChatGPT’ed” in some circles.

The latest AI news that caught our eyes – or ears rather – comes from Georgia Tech, where Raghavasimhan Sankaranarayanan – a Carnatic violinist with over 200 album and film soundtrack credits – is pursuing a PhD in machine learning and robotics. He has developed a robotic violinist and an accompanying synthesiser capable of understanding, playing, and improvising music. Sankaranarayanan collaborated with Professor Gil Weinberg, director of the Center for Music Technology, to create a two-part robot. The “body” consists of mechanical systems requiring precise movement algorithms, while the “brain” features algorithms enabling the robot to understand and generate music.

A clean way to fortune

Two 29-year-olds from Kerala, Alvin George and Sidharth AK, are the founders of Carbon & Whale, a clean-tech startup based in Kochi that transforms plastic waste into modular furniture. Rather than allowing single-use plastic to end up in landfills, the duo, along with Sooraj Verma, a professor at the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering & Technology in Chennai, are repurposing plastic waste for productive uses. “We ensure that these materials don’t end up as waste,” Alvin tells Open Digest. The report notes that their startup generated a modest revenue of 69,447 rupees in 2022–2023 but witnessed remarkable growth, reaching 5 crore (50 million) rupees in 2024–2025 through its sustainability-driven initiatives.

China gets a special eye in the sky

China has launched two self-driving satellites capable of navigating in space without any support from Earth – a world-first achievement. Developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, these satellites are set to revolutionise Earth observation, according to the South China Morning Post. Named Siwei Gaojing-2 03 and Gaojing-2 04, the satellites were launched on 25 November. They can independently maintain and adjust their orbits using advanced onboard systems, enhancing their responsiveness and enabling them to adapt swiftly to changing mission requirements or unexpected events.

Cattle class proves its worth

A video game where participants herd virtual cattle? Sounds about as thrilling as our weekends lately. But researchers from Macquarie University in Australia are thrilled, claiming it offers valuable insights into how humans make decisions about movement and navigation. According to a report in TechXplore, the findings could not only enhance how we interact with artificial intelligence but also improve the way robots navigate in the future. So, never underestimate what might seem like dull activities to some – especially on weekends, as we can attest.