[11][12] In 2002, he founded Emirates Techno Casting FZE and JC Middle East (JCME) in the Hamriyah Free Zone in Sharjah to trade in valves.
[13] Kottikollon's wife, Shabana, joined his business in 2002 and managed the Human Resources and Administrative areas while he focused on technology and production.
[14] In 2007, they set up the ETC Community Center,[15] which led to the establishment of the Faizal & Shabana Foundation in 2007 as "a charitable trust which aims to leverage the business models they developed in the oil and gas sector".
[11][14] In the same year, Kottikollon established KEF Holdings as the parent company for the group with the "goal to provide poorer areas of the world with the education, training and healthcare they sorely lack through the use of technology and collaboration".
[23] His first investment in infrastructure was KEF Infra One Industrial Park, "where a network of smart factories are driven by human enterprise and cyber-physical systems".
[24] The facility was built on 42 acres of land in Krishnagiri with an investment of US$100 million, and it focuses on designing, engineering, and manufacturing buildings, including on-site assembly and project management.
[35] In 2013, the Faizal & Shabana Foundation refurbished and upgraded a 120-year-old Government Vocational Higher Secondary School for Girls’ in Nadakkavu in Kozhikode, Kerala.
[38] KVDP initiatives include upgrades to a government primary school, skill development and women empowerment programmes, promotion of organic farming, and hygiene and sanitation projects.