Karnataka unveils booster kit for start-ups

Bengaluru, July 26: Karnataka on Monday unveiled a booster kit to nurture start-ups in the state with funding and hand-holding till they flourish.

"The booster kit provides software tools, cloud credits, access to mentors, legal and consulting accountants and access to government funding and government supported incubators," state IT & BT Minister Priyanka Kharge told reporters here.

Announcing Rs.400 crore funding over the next four years as grant or equity for start-ups, micro and small IT and BT (biotech) enterprises, he said the Karnataka Biotechnology and IT Services (KBITS) would also help them in marketing and promotion.

"The KIBITS will sponsor participation of start-up entrepreneurs to attend networking events at national and international levels, administer tax incentive and assist them in patent filing," Kharge said.

The new minister also said he plans to hold an open house event every month for start-ups to interact with department officials for addressing issues related to their operations.

The first open house will be held on August 16 at the state-run 10,000 start-ups warehouse in this tech hub.

"Bengaluru is the second fastest-growing start-up ecosystem in the world and the only Indian city to be ranked among the best 15 start-up ecosystems the world over," Kharge said.

The state government has also set up a cell in KBITS to implement policy initiatives and provide incentives for incubating start-ups.

"A start-up portal (www.startup.karnataka.gov.in) will soon be launched to educate prospective entrepreneurs on our policy and benefits being offered under the booster kit," Kharge added.

In partnership with the IT industry's representative body Nasscom, the state government has set up 725 seats to support incubators in the warehouse, in which 325 seats are available at subsidised rate for setting up start-ups.

IANS