Karnataka Govt to support 100 startups with fund outlay of Rs 25 crore
Bengaluru, Sept 11: Karnataka government today announced that it will support around 100 startups over three years under its new “Government First” initiative, with a total outlay of Rs 25 crore.
Eligible startups with deployment-ready solutions can receive work orders of up to Rs 25 lakh to pilot and validate their technologies within government departments.
The initiative has been formulated under the Special Initiative of Karnataka’s Startup Policy 2025–30 and is intended to create a structured route for startups to work directly with government departments.
The programme will allow innovators to test solutions in real-world government environments, assess outcomes and potentially move successful technologies into procurement and wider deployment.
Unlike a conventional government-led challenge model, the initiative will allow startups to approach departments with their own deployment-ready solutions even when no formal problem statement has been issued.
This Startup-Initiated Route will operate alongside challenges identified and published by government departments.
The framework also removes the requirement for prior government experience, reducing an entry barrier for younger companies seeking access to the public-sector market. Startups will retain ownership of their intellectual property when their technologies are deployed through the programme.
The programme is structured around a test, validate and procure model rather than treating pilots as standalone technology demonstrations. After technical evaluation and approval, selected solutions will be deployed within government environments and assessed against defined outcomes.
Successful pilots can subsequently move through outcome assessment, procurement recommendation, work-order issuance and execution. Solutions that demonstrate results in one department can also be considered for adoption by other government departments, providing a route for wider deployment.
The initiative will focus on technologies that are ready for real-world deployment rather than early-stage research and development. Proposed solutions will undergo technical evaluation before being cleared for pilot implementation, with the pilots assessed against defined outcomes.
The programme will cover areas including artificial intelligence, digital governance, healthcare, agriculture, education and mobility. Oversight will be provided through a three-tier structure comprising a Selection Committee, Technical Committee and Review Committee, with responsibilities spanning selection and pilot approval, implementation and milestone verification, and financial oversight.
Government departments will be able to identify operational challenges and publish problem statements for startups to address. Startups, meanwhile, can independently submit deployment-ready solutions where departments have not issued formal challenges.
The government said the initiative is aimed at increasing startup participation in public procurement, accelerating the adoption of innovative technologies and improving the efficiency and quality of public-service delivery. It also seeks to create opportunities for successful solutions to scale across departments while strengthening Karnataka’s startup ecosystem through government-led market access. (BVI)
