To boost entrepreneurship in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, Karnataka Government has launched a program named Elevate. The main aim of this program will be to identify and select over 1000 startups from smaller cities of the state.
This news was confirmed by Priyank Kharge, Minister of Technology and Information on Twitter.
Bigger cities in the state are well equipped with resources needed for a sound startup ecosystem. However, the smaller cities have been ignored in this regard. At one side, Bangalore is the startup hub of India and Asia, other cities do not boast of any such achievement.
Just to make ends meet and provide better options to residents of smaller cities, the government has tied up with The Indus Foundation and The Deshpande Foundation. Selected startups under this scheme will receive funding from government or the pool of VCs and angel investors.
Speaking on this, Priyank Kharge stated that the main aim of government is to identify the most innovative companies from across the state and to see how the government can help them. He added that most of the companies do require funds and to address the same issues, the government is working on partnering with VCs, HNIs and people from private ecosystems, along with putting some of its funds aside for the same.
The state of Karnataka has always been known for its capital city, Bangalore. Bangalore headquarters some of the most successful startups of the country and has bagged majority of the funds invested in Indian startups. The state had launched its startup policy in 2015, which aimed at identifying and nurturing at least 20,000 tech startups and 6000 product startups by 2020.