GoK Declares 100 Start-ups as Winners at ELEVATE 2019

The finals of Elevate 2019, India’s first comprehensive entrepreneurship platform of the Department of IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka was held in the city today. 270 start-ups, which made it to the finals after multicity pitching in Mysore, Mangalore, Kalburgi, Belagavi and Bengaluru had an eight-minute round of pitching in the finals, vying for funding, mentorship and a chance to scale up their business ideas. Start-up finalists pitched to respective panels of jury members in IT/ITES, Medtech, Agri/Biotech, Cleantech, AVGC, ESDM, Kannada, Culture and tourism, AVGC Aerospace and Aviation. Jury members consisted of well-known industry names, mentors and thought leaders. 100 winners out of 270 start-ups, including 23 start-ups from Tier II and Tier III cities and 29 women entrepreneurs have been selected based on the recommendations of the grand jury and approved by the Elevate steering committee. The winners included 76 start-ups from Bengaluru, 10 start-ups from Dharwad, 3 start-ups from Dakshina Kannada, 2 start-ups each from Mysore and Udupi, and 1 start-up from Bijapur, Chamarajnagar, Chikballapura, Davengere, Mandya, Tumkuru and Uttara Kannada respectively. Sector-wise, 41 start-ups in IT/ITES, 15 start-ups were selected in Biotechnology, 13 start-ups in Med Tech, 9 start-ups in Agriculture, 8 start-ups in Cleantech, 5 start-ups in ESDM, 4 start-ups in Aerospace and Aviation, 2 start-ups in AVGC and Kannada & Culture respectively and 1 start-up in Tourism.

In his address Shri. T.M. Vijay Bhaskar, Chief Secretary Government of Karnataka said, “It is a matter of immense pride that Karnataka is the first state in the country to initiate grant in aid to start-ups without taking equity. We are headed in the right direction of creating a robust start-up ecosystem across the state, providing motivation to the brightest minds to explore opportunities for growth. Bengaluru holds the crown of “India’s Start-up Capital” with the highest funding in India of $5.12 Billion out of a total of $13.88 Billion. Start-ups in Bengaluru have closed 267 deals, the highest in the country out of a total of 864. Karnataka will soon set up an Innovation Authority headed by the Honourable Chief Minister to empower start-ups to overcome legal hurdles in innovating technologies and ideas. Elevate will continue to provide the right support for start-ups to connect with the right people. It will also provide the right opportunity for start-ups to connect among themselves and recognise areas of mutual interest for collaboration.”

Delivering the key note address, Shri. Gaurav Gupta, Principal Secretary, Department of IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka said, “Over the last few years, the State of Karnataka has emerged as the Start-up Capital of India and the Government of Karnataka is very keen to leverage that position to further enhance its leadership stance. It is through events such as Elevate 2019 that we are able to identify local talent and provide them with the required nurturing, mentorship and initial funding so that they can take their business ideas and products to the next level. There have been several innovative ideas and go to market strategies that have been pitched to juries. What is very encouraging is the participation of several women entrepreneurs who have shown much talent and promise.”

Eminent speakers presented informative and inspiring talks at the second day of Elevate 2019. Talks included topics on ‘why design is crucial for development, experience and positioning of products and solutions’; ‘Effective prototyping and usage of common instrumentation facilities (CIF)’; ‘IPR, Patent and Trademarks’; ‘Ecosystem Enablers’ and ‘Investment Landscape and its impact on Start-ups and investors’. The day also witnessed a special presentation by Catalyst for Women Entrepreneurs (CWE) titled ‘Should I act like a man to be a successful tech entrepreneur?’ and two panel discussions titled ‘Investment, Landscape and its impact on Start-ups and Investors’ and ‘Empowering Start-ups for Growth and Impact’ respectively.

“The uniqueness of this program is that not only do start-ups get recognised at the State level but also are provided with access to funds to scale their ideas to the next level. The fund releases and utilization are regularly monitored by the Government. Funds are released in tranches to the start-ups based on their progress. Elevate 2019 generates a lot of visibility for innovative start-ups and enables them to raise further funds from Angel Investors and Capitalists at a later stage” Shri. Gaurav Gupta added.

Speaking at the event, Shri. Prashant Kumar Mishra, MD, KITS, Government of Karnataka said, “Department of IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka launched call for Elevate 2019 on 8th March this year. The Department received a total of 729 applications and after two stages of shortlisting and multicity pitching, 270 applicants were chosen as finalists, and 100 were identified as winners. Since the inception of the Elevate program, 264 start-ups have been supported with total committed fund of about Rs. 64 crores. The Government of Karnataka’s thrust on expanding its start-up ecosystem across the state is evident in the fact that we have winners from districts like Bijapur (Fashion Technology), Chickballapur (Food Processing) and Chamarjnagar (Eco Tourism). Since inception, the Elevate program has witnessed an increase in participation from Tier II cities from 14 start-ups in 2017 to 23 startups in 2019, an increase of around 60%.”

The Elevate program partners with TiE Bangalore, NASSCOM, ABLE, IESA, ABAI, MMActive, BBC and others.