Karnataka Start-up Policy 2022-27 gets Cabinet nod, focuses on taking tech beyond Bengaluru

Policy aims to establish 50 new-age innovation network centres, encourages women entrepreneurship, and hopes to take tech beyond Bengaluru

The Karnataka Cabinet approved the Karnataka Start-up Policy, 2022-27, which proposes to establish 50 new-age innovation network (NAIN) centres – 35 in IT/electronics and 15 in bio-technology institutions of higher learning located outside Bengaluru Urban district. Karnataka formulated the first start-up policy in 2015.

Through the policy, the government has rolled out programmes with the objective of supporting start-ups in their business life cycle — right from providing funding at various stages (seed funding, venture capital funding, angel investor funding and sector-specific funding), incubation support, mentorship, co-working spaces and a dedicated Start-up Cell to facilitate the growth of start-ups.

The policy was formulated with the aim of positioning Karnataka as the ‘Champion State’ for start-ups and aims to stimulate the growth of 25,000 start-ups, and further increasing the number of high-growth start-ups by 2027, sources in the government said.

The policy makes provisions for support of ₹5 lakh per student project, for a maximum of 10 projects in a year, for a period of three years, and annual financial support of up to ₹12 lakh towards operational expenditure per NAIN centre.

For strengthening the NAIN centres, the policy offers financial support of 25% of the total cost, up to a maximum of ₹45 lakh, for a period of three years, with remaining 75% contribution from college.

Karnataka has around 15,000-plus start-ups, and has been ranked as the Best Performer State in DPIIT’s States’ Startup Ranking 2021, and has been the top performer for two consecutive years (2018 and 2019) under the DPIIT’s States’ Startup Ranking.

A venture capital fund of ₹100 crore would be established under the policy to support emerging innovative and deep tech start-ups in artificial intelligence, machine learning, electric vehicles, med-tech, robotics, drones, and other such disruptive technologies across all sectors.