Karnataka is eyeing 800 new start-ups under KDEM’s Beyond Bengaluru initiative by the end of this financial year, says minister Ashwath Narayan C N

Even with over 21,656 start-ups in Karnataka, the state is leaving no stone unturned to present itself as the perfect place for budding entrepreneurs. Under Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), which aims to foster a Bengaluru-like start-up economy in cities like Mysuru, Mangaluru and Hubli-Dharwad, the state has registered more than 400 start-ups already, and aims to have 800 start-ups by the end of this financial year.

“Happy to share that with Beyond Bengaluru start-up Grid by Karnataka Digital Economy Mission, we now have more than 400 start-ups registered, of which 100+ are from the Mysuru cluster.  We aim to have 800 start-ups (under KDEM initiative) by the end of this financial year,” says Dr. Ashwath Narayan C N, Electronics, Information Technology - Biotechnology, Science and Technology, Higher Education, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood in the government of Karnataka. “As digitalisation is in a rapid phase, our focus is to harness talent through the right education & skill training. We look forward to collaborations with industries in sectors like education, training & employment, promising to extend the fullest support from the government,” he added.

Overall, the state has over 17,879 start-ups in Bengaluru, while 3,777 are outside Bengaluru. Today, Mysuru, Hubballi-Dharwad and Dakshina Kannada have 602, 244 and 237 start-ups, while Belagavi and Udupi have 355 and 213 start-ups.

The state is actively working towards not just wooing start-ups but also attracting significant investments for electronics manufacturing and semiconductors. In particular, focusing on the Mysuru Cluster, the minister has promised that the government was ready to listen to the asks and needs of the industries and help fulfil them.

“The government is only working towards enabling the people and the industries and aims to work toward local workforce placement. The government will aim to work toward and fulfil every one of the demands made by the industry leaders and further develop the Mysuru ecosystem as a whole!,” he added.

Start-up ecosystem for semiconductors:

The government of Karnataka, in collaboration with the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), is providing Indian fabless semiconductor product companies with easier access to exorbitantly expensive R&D infrastructure like EDA Tools, Design IPs (Foundation / Core IPs), Foundry Access accompanied by foundry design kits, subsidised test chip shuttles, server farms, and other physical infrastructure, enabling them to design and develop product prototypes under SFAL successfully, Ashwath Narayan had earlier told Business Today.

“We are number one when it comes to semiconductor designing and are trying to scale this further,” he said.

The government of Karnataka was also the first to invite the establishment of the semiconductor facility and is open to additionally committing itself toward establishing other crucial CoEs and labs for sectors like Defence, Healthcare and ESDM, among others, said the minister.

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