Karnataka as Startup capital of Asia offers Digi tech ecosystem, says Minister Ashwatha Narayana
Oct 18, 2021
Dubai [UAE], October 18 : At Dubai World Expo-2020, Karnataka Minister Dr.C.N.Ashwatha Narayana said that Digi tech ecosystem in Karnataka offers plenty to innovate.
In his opening remarks at 'Dubai World Expo-2020' on 'How Karnataka has emerged as the Startup capital of Asia', he emphasized entrepreneurs from across India are increasingly making Karnataka the place for starting as well as scaling up.
Digital enablers such as AI, machine learning, digital analytics, process automation, and the creation of new and innovative tools which supported the country during the pandemic have made the state of Karnataka innovative and put the state on the global map of innovation and entrepreneurship, Dr. C.N.Ashwatha Narayana, the Minister for IT/Bt and S&T, stated on Monday.
He added that new ideas are blooming almost on a daily basis in the state in from edtech, fintech, healthtech among others and major advantage of being an entrepreneur in the Karnataka is that the ecosystem is still maturing offering plenty of room for growth, innovation, and trying out new ideas.
"Venture Capital investments in startups has only been increasing. Venture capital firms infused a total of $17.2 billion investment into the Indian startup ecosystem during January-July this year 2021, with a large amount invested in Karnataka based startups which included Udaan, Meesho, Cred, Razorpay, Vedantu and Dunzo" Minister Narayana explained.
In the present year, Karnataka which has a robust ecosystem of R&D centres, academic institutions, leading technology companies has seen 8 startups achieving the unicorn status of US$ 1 billion in valuation and Bengaluru, the capital city of state is home to one of the largest startup ecosystems in the world, he pointed out.
Karnataka is the preferred destination for MNC/GCCs and home to 400 out of the Fortune 500 companies. Several large MNCs have set up their R&D centres and the growth in scale of startups in Karnataka and the drive of the entrepreneurs continues to be a source of inspiration for the startup ecosystem of India and Asia, Narayana said.
Startups are providing numerous opportunities for employment and bringing in new and innovative ideas in the way of conducting business. These startups with new and profound solutions facilitated by government policies and programs are bringing positive change and impact, he opined.
