Although the ‘funding winter’ has slowed down venture capital activities, Karnataka has emerged as the first State in India to provide grant-in-aid to start-ups without taking equity in return, according to Priyank Kharge, Minister for Information Technology and Biotechnology, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj.
The State Government offered funding of around ₹200 crore to support 874 start-ups since the commencement of the Elevate Scheme, an initiative by the Department of Electronics, IT, BT and Science & Technology.
“In the last four years, the State has offered around ₹200 crore to 874 start-ups that operate across various business domains. No State government has done this. In fact, we have done better than private venture capital firms, especially when the funding industry is still talking about a funding winter,” the Minister said in Bengaluru on November 18.
