From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Aug 4: ELEVATE 100 - the Karnataka Government‘s Flagship Programme to identify 100 of the most innovative start-ups in the State kicked-off last month has received an overwhelming response from 1700 start-ups across Karnataka.
In a first of its kind programme, the State Government has held multi city start-up pitches in tier-2 cities - Mangaluru, Kalaburagi, Mysuru and Hubballi to encourage entrepreneurship across the State.
More than 700 applicants from Bengaluru will be presenting their pitch deck before a panel of eminent industry representatives serving as the jury.
The jury will be evaluating their performance on the basis of a number of parameters such as innovation, technology, business model, scalability, social impact, team strength, budget and regulations.
The top 100 shortlisted start-ups across all cities will participate in the Grand Finale programme on August 29 and 30 in Bengaluru.
The State Government aims to help nurture and elevate these 100 start-ups by providing them with access to funds, mentors, networking opportunities, idea validation, incubation facilities & in depth sessions on accounting, legal and emerging technologies.
ELEVATE is the brainchild of the Start-up Cell, Karnataka Biotechnology and Information Technology Services (KBITS).
It was launched by the State Government in partnership with the Deshpande Foundation, the Indus Entrepreneurs and other Industry Association Partners like ABAI, IESA, ABLE and NASSCOM.
The programme currently focuses on a number of diverse sectors, including IT, electronic system design manufacturing, animation visual gaming and comics, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, life sciences and more.
Commenting on ELEVATE 100, State IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge said: “We have received a huge response for Elevate100 across all cities. For the first time, regional pitches were held in tier 2 cities including Mangaluru, Kalaburagi, Mysuru and Hubballi. The competition has been fierce; it is very exciting to see so many promising startups move to the next round and looking forward to the finals.”
“At Elevate100, we are not just providing start-ups with access to funds but will also help them with access to mentors from their respective industries, networking and business opportunities and support them in important aspects like accounting, legal and emerging technologies.” Kharge added.
Women Entrepreneur Innovation Summit at Elevate100
The State Government in association with SheThePeople.TV will co-locate ‘The Women Entrepreneur Innovation Summit’ on August 20 at the Elevate100 Grand Finale.
The summit is aimed at supporting women tech entrepreneurs with access to mentoring and funds earmarked for women entrepreneurs. The Government will also provide necessary support in marketing, accounting and legal matters.
More than 300 women entrepreneurs mostly from Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi and Kalaburagi areas of Karnataka who have registered for Elevate100 will participate at the the Women Entrepreneur Innovation Summit.
Recent trends show that great ideas succumb mainly due to lack of mentoring and fail to adopt the right strategies to scale up their product/solutions.
The ELEVATE100 summit will give start-ups an opportunity to have one on one session with start-up mentors. The mentors will share with the start-ups key insights, their experience and opinion in the respective domains and nurture their ideas and technology into a successful product and company.