A Compaq 486 computer, a dial-up modem, a pedestal fan, a table and two chairs crammed into 150 sq ft of makeshift space inside Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram, was all that one of the first start-ups in Kerala had when it started its operations in 1998. Twenty five years later, what started as Palnar Transmedia Private Limited, has grown into iworxs GmbH and Company, employing more than 100 programmers each at Technopark and at its centre in New Jersey in the United States. The company is set to celebrate its 25th anniversary this week.
Syed Ibrahim, who began his IT career in a German company in Technopark around the time the park was set up, left it along with his colleague Sreejith Narayan after two years with the intention to start a company. While Mr. Narayan left to the US to set up the company’s operations there in 1998, Mr. Ibrahim began the work for setting up the India operations in Technopark.
“During that period, the Technopark campus had just the park centre and two buildings which were fully occupied. We approached K.G. Satheesh Kumar, who was heading the Technopark, requesting for a small space. So, he allocated us 150 sq ft in one of the buildings, which was the only available space. By this time, Sreejith had sent seed funding of $650 to kickstart the company. During that time, even the concept of a start-up was not very familiar here,” says Mr. Ibrahim, the current Managing Director of iworxs, who also heads the Goethe Zentrum Trivandrum.
