The cabinet approved on Thursday for the Karnataka Startup Policy 2022-27 which aims at stimulating the growth of 25,000 Startups in the state by 2027.

Currently the state houses around 15,000 Startups. Dr.CN Ashwath Narayan, Minister for IT/BT briefed the meeting that the new policy has a goal to add atleast 10,000 Startups in 5 years.

The new policy framed by the Department of Electronics, IT/BT and S&T has an overarching aim of positioning Karnataka as the ‘Champion State’ for startups and further increase the number of high growth startups by 2027, Narayan stated focus on promoting startups in emerging technology clusters ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ by creating a conducive environment and offering startups an ideal ecosystem for their growth. The Policy intends to give impetus to encouraging social  entrepreneurship/assistive technology innovations and facilitate innovative technology solutions in Social Governance  sectors to address the existing social challenges in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework enabling to meet  Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Vision of the Policy is, “To play a vital role in creating an enabling environment across the State for nurturing startups  throughout their business lifecycle and make Karnataka a global innovation hub for startups”.

The Policy based on 9 pillars has 7 Objectives which include

 Strengthening the infrastructure set up in Government institutions and support the ecosystem with a greater thrust on emerging clusters 

The other key objectives of the policy are: Inculcating innovation and entrepreneurial skills in students across all streams. Encouraging social entrepreneurship/assistive technology innovations.

Facilitating innovative technology solutions in Social Governance sectors. Supporting the creation and development of incubation and acceleration infrastructure as key enablers.

Facilitating funding avenues that lead to investment in startups by institutional investors and angel investors and also through Government funding.