THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major endorsement of Kerala’s booming startup ecosystem, two enterprises supported by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) have emerged winners in the pitching competition in the Convergence India Expo 2022, one of India’s most influential expos that concluded in New Delhi on Friday.

Troncart Solutions Pvt Ltd and Riod Logic bagged the first and second prize respectively in the IIT Patna Incubation Centre pitch competition organized in the 29^th edition of the three-day expo at Pragati Maidan.

Troncart got Rs one lakh as prize money, besides being given incubation opportunities by IIT Patna Incubation Centre. Runner-up Riod will also be given incubation opportunities.

Meanwhile, two other KSUM startups—Chargemod and Le Orion Pvt Ltd—entered the finals of North Star Dubai Pitch competition held on the sidelines of the expo. One winner of this competition will get a sponsored trip (for two people from the winning startup) to Dubai North Star expo.

Lauding the achievement of the startups, KSUM CEO Shri John M Thomas said the unique solutions presented by these startups highlight the talent pool and strength of Kerala’s startup ecosystem.

“KSUM startups have got immense recognition at the event and they were able to benefit from the interactions with industry people. It was the one of the best exposures to them as they bagged business opportunities and held discussions with investors,” he added. 

Around 15 startups from across the country were selected for competitions held in three categories. Notably, four startups from Kerala entered the finals of two competitions.

A contingent of 22 KUSM startups belonging to various domains participated in the prestigious expo. They got networking and business opportunities, and one-on-one meeting with investors, who attended the expo. 

Founded in 2018 by Aneez Ahamed, Pratheesh V Nair and Aneesh Chandran, Thiruvananthapuram-based Troncart offers FLOW metering system, a unique solution to calculate utility readings automatically.

Angamaly-based Riod, founded in 2017, is headed by Akhil Joy and Aneesh PK. The startup manufactures and develops IoT sensors along with RIOD Live platform that help to sense, monitor, control and aggregate Realtime data from fields.

KSUM is a nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.

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The exemptions to the June 22 Presidential Proclamation 10052, commonly referred to as the H-1B or L-1 travel ban, also includes the family members of H-1B, L-1 and certain categories of J1 visas.

President Donald Trump, in his June 2020 proclamation, banned the entry into the US of workers in several key non-immigrant visa categories, including the H-1B, arguing that they eat into American jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries such as India and China.

The State Department, which issued the revised travel advisory, said that the exemptions have been given under national interest category. In its advisory, the State Department said that H-1B and L-1 visas can now be issued for employees who are “seeking to resume ongoing employment in the United States in the same position with the same employer and visa classification.”

Forcing employers to replace existing employees may cause financial hardship, it said. All those on H-1B visas working in the healthcare sector, especially those related to the COVID-19 pandemic, or to conduct ongoing medical research in an area with a substantial public health benefit – like cancer or communicable disease research – are also exempted from the July 22 travel ban.

Notably in the last few weeks, several lawmakers have written to the Secretary of State to exempt the healthcare sector from the travel ban on H-1B, L1 and J1 visas. Further new factors have been set forth to also allow H-1B visas to be issued when at least two of the five indicators are met, the State Department said.

The factors include the applicant’s proposed job duties or position within the petitioning company indicates the individual will provide significant and unique contributions to an employer meeting a critical infrastructure need.

Another factor is that the wage rate paid to the H-1B applicant meaningfully exceeds the prevailing wage rate by at least 15 per cent. When an H-1B applicant will receive a wage that meaningfully exceeds the prevailing wage, it suggests that the employee fills an important business need where an American worker is not available, the State Department said.

The exemptions for L1 visas are mostly similar to that of the H-1B. L-1A applicants seeking to establish a new office in the United States likely do not fall into this category, unless two of the three criteria are met and the new office will employ, directly or indirectly, five or more US workers, the State Department said.
The national interest exemptions are also available to their spouses and depended as well, it said. These include those on H-4, L-2 and J-2 visas.

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US President Donald Trump’s move to suspend H-1B visas and other visas for this year is putting immigrants in perpetual anguish. Evidently, it is affecting the American dreams of many young Indians.

Ninety per cent of applicants for the H-1B visa are from India. The proclamation that comes into effect on June 24 is expected to impact a large number of Indian IT professionals and several American and Indian companies who were issued H-1B visas by the US Government for the fiscal year 2021 beginning October 1. It would also impact a large number of Indian IT professionals who are seeking renewal of their H-1B visas. There are a total of over 4.5 lakh H-1B visa holders and majority of them are Indians.

A twitter user with the name H1BimmigrantAnshu Sharma, who runs a company in the US, tweeted,“Banning all H1B visas means CEOs like me have to open offices and hire more people in countries like Canada that allow immigration. The visa ban is morally wrong and economically stupid. What happened to being “for legal immigration”?

India’s apex IT body NASSCOM said H-1B Visa ban is misguided and harmful to the US economy. The IT body said in a statement that the new proclamation will prevent our companies and thousands other organisations from accessing the talent they need from overseas.

A Grim future for Tech Companies?

The business leaders fiercely opposed the move saying that it will block their ability to recruit critically needed workers from countries overseas. Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said on Twitter he was “disappointed” and that “we’ll continue to stand with immigrants and work to expand opportunity for all.” “Immigration has contributed immensely to America’s economic success, making it a global leader in tech, and also Google the company it is today. Disappointed by today’s proclamation-we’ll continue to stand with immigrants and work to expand opportunity for all,” Pichai said.

About three-quarters of H-1B visas go to people working in the technology industry. According to the state department, the number of non-immigrant visas issued in 2019 declined for the fourth consecutive year, to 8.7 million from 10.9 million in 2015.CompTIA, a trade group that represents big tech companies like Amazon and Google parent company Alphabet Inc. said the move would deal a lasting blow to the economy.

Nandini Nair, an immigration partner at Greenspoon Marder, said to a media,“Many spent thousands of dollars filing paperwork for each H-1B visa applicant. They expended all of this money and planned their budgets and workforce capabilities on these visas and that’s now shot,” Nair said.Many workers have been unable to travel since the coronavirus pandemic shut borders across the world. “A lot of these workers are now prisoners in the U.S. because they don’t have a valid visa stamp in their passport,if they go, they can’t come back in,” Ms. Nair said.

Creating Opportunities for talents within the country

On the contrary, VikramAhuja, Co-Founder of Talent 500 by ANSR believes this is the exact opportunity to explore the potential of Indian companies and talent within the country.“We think this is a fantastic opportunity for the growth of Global Capability Centers (GCC’s) which allows global companies to access top talent and build teams where they are.GCC’s in India have grown at 50% year-on-year and have emerged as the strongest growth-driver for the Indian IT Industry,” he said.

He also said that H-1B will impact a lot of deserving professionals from accessing well deserved opportunities, “but at the same time is a terrific opportunity for talent to access newer opportunities which will come up in India due to enterprises needing to build great team irrespective of where they are,” Vikram Ahuja said.

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