The last four months of 2016 saw nearly 20 firms register with Karnataka’s Startup Cell every day .From just 27 startups registered at the time the Siddaramaiah government took over in 2013, the number has risen to 2,397 as of December end. In 2013, there was only one nodal officer for startups, now there’s a dedicated multi-sector cell. The latter became functional last August.

From tourism to healthcare and from e-payments to IT, a host of startups have registered with the Startup Cell. The government believes that its goal of hosting at least 20,000 start-ups by 2020 is achievable.

Karnataka was the first state government to have an exclusive startup policy. It is now in the process of focusing on startups innovating in the field of agriculture.

Many independent global organizations have ranked Bengaluru among the top startup destinations in the world. “Lauded as the Silicon Valley of India, Bengaluru is the No. 2 hub for business innovation in the Asia-Pacific region, with nearly 5,000 active startups and $2.3 billion in venture capital investments,” US-based Inc. magazine said recently.

Booster kit, tie-ups led to spike in numbers

Introduction of the `Booster-kit’, which provides startups with access to a host of much-needed facilities, including funding, is seen as one of the main reasons for the spike in registration numbers. The kit provides cloud services, virtual telephony and internet services, debugging testing and software tools, payment gateway facilities, and even mentorship and incubation.

“We are not building castles in the air and leaving firms that register with us at sea,” an official said, adding that the Cell has tie-ups with some big names in the industry in each of these services. It has tied up with IBM, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft BizSpark among others for cloud computing. For payment gateway services, it has partners like Citrus. BSNL, Airtel and Vodafone are partners for providing virtual telephony and internet services. Besides, the cell also organises open houses, three of which have happened until now, to provide start-ups with a platform to engage with industry heavy weights.

“We also offer incubation facilities, and we have tie-up with some of the best institutes including the Indian Institute of Science (IISc),” the official said.

Source: The Times of India