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ELEVATE, Karnataka’s flagship startup initiative, has disbursed ₹249 crore in seed funding across 21 programme calls, benefiting 1,084 startups to date.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement
The Government of Karnataka has awarded ₹25 crore in grants to 101 startups as part of the ELEVATE 2024 initiative, aimed at fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. The companies recognised under the programme this year included 42 women-led ventures and 36 startups from beyond Bengaluru.
“This year, we saw strong participation from startups across all districts of Karnataka, with fourteen districts represented among the winners. Notably, 17 rural innovation startups addressing real-life challenges at the grassroots level have been funded,” said Priyank Kharge, Minister for IT & BT, and Rural Development.
The government support under the ELEVATE programme includes a grant-in-aid of up to ₹50 lakh each, incubation support, mentoring by experts, a booster kit, incentives and VC connects.
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement
He added that a total of ₹25 crore has already been disbursed to support the selected ventures. Mr. Kharge also noted that the startups from regions beyond Bengaluru reinforced the government’s belief that innovation is no longer confined to Bengaluru alone.
Along with Mr. Kharge, Ekroop Caur, Secretary – Department of Electronics, IT, BT, and Science & Technology, Rahul Sharanappa Sanaknur, Managing Director, KITS, and Daljeet Kumar, Deputy Secretary, Department of Electronics, IT, BT, and Science & Technology, were present at the felicitation ceremony.
ELEVATE, Karnataka’s flagship startup initiative, has disbursed ₹249 crore in seed funding across 21 programme calls, benefiting 1,084 startups to date. The government support includes a grant-in-aid of up to ₹50 lakh each, incubation support, mentoring by experts, a booster kit, incentives and VC connects.
Published – March 27, 2025 03:05 pm IST
