Karnataka Picks 101 Startups Under Elevate In 2024

The Karnataka government’s flagship startup initiative Elevate has reportedly selected 101 startups, granting INR 25 Cr (around $2.9 Mn) in total seed funding for 2024.

While 42 of the selected startups are led by women, 36 are from beyond or outside.

“The Elevate 2024 initiative marks a significant milestone in our continued effort to position Karnataka as a global leader in innovation and entrepreneurship,” an ET report said, citing Karnataka’s IT-BT minister Priyank Kharge.

“With 45 unicorns and a valuation of $161 Bn, Bengaluru is at the forefront of the global startup revolution. The participation of women entrepreneurs and startups from beyond Bengaluru highlight our commitment to inclusive growth and decentralised innovation,” Kharge said during a ceremony held yesterday to felicitate the selected startups.

The minister further said that in 2024 the AVGC (animation, visual effects, gaming and comics) sector was a key focus with the top two startups – Pocket Coach Technologies and Zebu Films – receiving the highest funding.

Out of the 101 selected startups, 17 rural innovation startups from outside Bengaluru were identified for their impact-driven solutions. The minimum grant disbursal was INR 21 Lakh, while the upper cap is INR 50 Lakh.

When Was Elevate Launched?

Karnataka launched the Elevate programme in 2015 to identify top innovative startups in the state and support them in scaling up their businesses.

Since its inception, the programme under the IT-BT department has disbursed INR 249 Cr, aiding 1,084 startups. A quarter of them 25% are led by women while 30% are from regions beyond Bengaluru.

The selected startups have been mapped to K-Tech Hubs and Centres of Excellence for mentorship, incubation and ecosystem integration. 

In 2023, a total of 817 startups have enrolled for Karnataka’s Elevate programme.

Karnataka’s Startups Push

The development comes at a time when the state has been taking various measures to become the startup leader of the nation.

Meanwhile, Karnataka is planning to build a ‘Deep Tech’ park to support the manufacturing efforts in the spacetech, semiconductor, drones, electric vehicle, electronics, aerospace and defence industries. The industrial hub will be developed at Jangamakote in Karnataka’s Chikballapur district. The park, proposed to be named MV Deep Tech Park, is about 60 kilometres away from the city of Bengaluru.

In other efforts, the state is also planning to deploy a Centre for Applied AI for Tech Solutions (CATS) with an investment of INR 50 Cr, has introduced the Karnataka Clean Mobility Policy 2025-30 which aims to attract INR 50,000 Cr investment from the clean mobility value chain and build a testing track and state-of-the-art EV cluster with common infrastructure to boost EV manufacturing.

Although Bengaluru remains among the most prominent startup hubs in the country, but saw a plunge in terms of total funding attracted by the state’s startups. 

As per Inc42’s annual funding report, funding raised by Bengaluru-based startups declined 19% year-on-year (YoY) to $3.4 Bn in 2024.