The Karnataka government on Wednesday picked up over 100 startups as part of its 'Elevate 100' programme. The firms will get funding support of ₹35 crore to scale up their ideas.
The short-listed firms will also have access to the government’s ₹400 crore startup fund. They would be provided access to mentors and various accelerators.
The government has signed eight MoUs with top companies, including Google, Amazon and PricewaterhouseCoopers, to cater to the needs of these 100 companies.
‘Elevate 100’, which had a goal to find the 100 most innovative companies in Karnataka, had attracted over 1,700 applicants.
“We want to stimulate 20,000 startups, of which 6,000 will be product based,” Priyank Kharge, Minister for IT, Biotechnology & Tourism, said in a statement. All participants, even other than the 111 finalists, will continue to benefit from mentorship, market access and ‘cross border entrepreneurship’, he added.
Sell online
Online retailer Amazon India said that it has signed a MoU with Karnataka Biotechnology and Information Technology Services (KBITS) at ‘Elevate 100’. Amazon will work with KBITS to educate, train and enable select startups to sell their products to Amazon customers under its Launchpad programme. The programme makes it easy for Indian startups to launch, market and distribute their products to millions of Amazon customers through a dedicated store.