Karnataka grants Rs 3.18 crore to 12 start-ups

The Karnataka IT and Biotechnology department on Wednesday granted Rs 3.18 crore to fund 12 start-ups in the areas of agriculture, biotechnology, security, communications and robotics.

"The dozen start-ups have been selected for funding to innovate products and solutions as they have been part of the Idea2PoC (Proof of Concept) scheme of the IT department's Start-up Cell," said an official statement here.

Each start-up will get Rs 10-50 lakh as seed capital and additional funding will be in tranches as per the need through their business life cycle.

The Idea2PoC is a part of the country's first multi-sector start-up policy, unveiled by the state government to encourage entrepreneurs with funding to commercialise their innovation.

"As the state has a lot of young and talented entrepreneurs, it is our responsibility to promote their start-ups and fund them as they have the potential to make a difference," said Karnataka IT & BT Minister Priyank Kharge.

The start-ups with seed funding are Dr. Live Software (Rs 10 lakh), EasyKrishi (Rs 15 lakh), Lightmetrics (Rs 30 lakh), PiOctave Solutions (Rs 30 lakh), Geeksynergey Technologies (Rs 30 lakh), ispAgro Robotics (Rs 20 lakh), Astrome (Rs 30 lakh), Esyasoft (Rs 20 lakh), Geotraq Safety (Rs 45 lakh), NammaNimma Cycle Foundation (Rs 10 lakh), Sirena Technologies (Rs 48 lakh) and Selfdot Technologies (Rs 30 lakh).

"Though Bengaluru is the country's IT hub, we are seeing its start-up culture spreading to other areas, including agriculture, biotechnology, security, communications, robotics and gaming rapidly. Our aim is to mentor and help them to become self-sufficient," said IT & BT Principal Secretary Gaurav Gupta on the occasion.

Kartnataka Biotechnology and Information Techology Services (KBITS) Managing Director Salma K. Fahim said the state government was also targetting start-ups in emerging technologies such as animation, artificial intelligence, big data and virtual reality.

"These technologies can solve our long-standing problems, create hundreds of jobs and help in the 'Make in India' programme of the central and state governments," added Fahim.

--IANS

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