Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 19 : Kerala has set an ambitious target of having over 15,000 startups and 200,000 jobs in emerging technologies in five years, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Saturday. He said this while inaugurating the third edition of the 'Huddle Global 2022', organised by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM). 'Huddle Global 2022' offers startups a platform to showcase products and interact with technology/industry leaders, besides providing them the scope to explore ways on moving ahead in the world emerging from Covid-19. KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state. "Startups being the future of the country, Kerala is committed to providing the right ecosystem. Our startups have raised Rs 3,200 crore as equity investments since 2015. Along with startup infrastructure in the Technology Innovation Zone Kochi, the government is considering a similar campus at Thiruvananthapuram, focusing on emerging technologies," said Vijayan. "Given that India is the world's third-largest startup ecosystem with more than 55,000 startups, the government is aware of the significance of each state's contribution to the overall development of this national startup ecosystem. Startup India ranking places Kerala as one of the top Indian states for startup environment," said Vijayan. Minister for Industries, Law and Coir, P. Rajeev said Kerala has built a unique model to nurture startups from ideation to the scale up stage. "KSUM is dedicated to fostering global entrepreneurship to strengthen the startup community in the state as well as across the nation. The goal of Huddle Global is to create an environment where the passion meets the purpose to learn, network, bridge the gap between business, expose potential and see actual result," said Rajeev. Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) also announced a collaboration with global tech firm Google for startups to connect with the global startup community. This wider network enables local startups to leverage Google's programme comprising mentorship and training of startup teams to help scale up their solutions. The partnership was announced by Paul Ravindranath, Head of Google for Startups Accelerator, India, at the 'Huddle Global' conclave of KSUM. The collaboration will enable Kerala's startups to join a wider network to leverage Google's programme comprising mentorship and training of startup teams for scaled-up solutions. /IANS