The Karnataka Cabinet has approved the Karnataka Start-up Policy 2022-27 with an objective to stimulate the growth of 25,000 start-ups by 2027. The State cabinet held its meeting in the Belagavi Suvarna Vidhana Soudha on Thursday.

The policy has proposed to establish 50 New Age Innovation Network (NAIN) centres (35 in IT/ Electronics and 15 in Biotechnology) to be set up in technology institutions of higher learning located outside Bengaluru Urban District. It will also provide annual financial support of up to ₹12 lakh towards operational expenditure per NAIN centre. 

CN Ashwath Narayan, Minister for IT/BT said, “Currently the State houses around 15,000 start-ups and the new policy has a goal to add at least 10,000 start-ups 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 start-ups and further increase the number of high growth start-ups by 2027.” 

The policy has dedicated focus on promoting start-ups in emerging technology clusters ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ by creating a conducive environment and  offering start-ups 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, the government said. 

The policy is based on nine pillars and it has seven objectives which include strengthening the infrastructure set up in government institutions and support the ecosystem with a greater thrust on emerging clusters ‘Beyond Bengaluru’.

The other key objectives of the policy are—inculcating innovation and entrepreneurial skills in students across all streams, 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 start-ups by institutional investors and angel investors and also through government funding, is also one of the objectives of the policy. 

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