Karnataka announces INR 5,000 crore fund of funds for startups ahead of state polls
The BJP government has announced a significant boost for Karnataka’s startup ecosystem with a Fund of Funds (FoF) worth INR 5,000 crore. The announcement comes ahead of the state elections. This move is considered to be a major step to strengthen the state’s position as a leading startup hub in the country.
The BJP manifesto reads, “We will institute a fund of funds of INR 5,000 Cr to sunrise sector startup which include petrochemicals, food processing, space tourism and EV (electric vehicles).”
The manifesto also said, “We will transform Karnataka into a premier hub for EVs under mission connect Karnataka, we will be incentivising the EV sector startups.”
The new FoF aims at providing backing to startups, especially in the post-Covid era, where access to capital has become a significant challenge. In the recent years, the Karnataka government has been at the forefront of promoting startups in the state, with several initiatives over the past few years.
The FoF will invest in early-stage startups across industries including IT, biotech, health-tech, and agri-tech, and others. The funding will give a boost to Karnataka’s startup ecosystem, which has already attracted significant investment in recent years.
The announcement of the FoF is being welcomed by entrepreneurs. Several investors and startups said that they believe that the fund will provide the much-needed support to startups and help them kick off their operations.
