Karnataka To Establish State-Level Research Foundation To Foster R&D In Startup Ecosystem

Karnataka minister NS Boseraju on Saturday (August 12) said that the state government will establish a research foundation to foster R&D in the startup ecosystem. 

“In order to create a favourable environment for research and to spur new startup products in the state, the Karnataka State Research Foundation will be established,” said Boseraju while addressing the Indian StartUp Festival-2023 in Chikkaballapur.

The foundation, as per the minister, will bridge the gap between startups and other stakeholders and will ease access to research and development. He also invited domain experts and other individuals to offer their insights into the proposed foundation. 

Terming R&D important, Boseraju, as per news agency PTI, said that the state government was taking all necessary steps to create an enabling atmosphere, in terms of infrastructure, for startups. This, he said, was resulting in the emergence and growth of different startup sectors in a ‘big way.’

As per the report, he also said that constant R&D in the domain of science and technology was fundamental for the growth of the local startup ecosystem.

However, the development is nothing new. The state budget, last month, had proposed the creation of the Karnataka State Research Foundation (KSRF) to effectively monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Karnataka Research, Development and Innovation Policy. 

Karnataka is home to the country’s startup capital Bengaluru, which, as per Inc42, counts 1,700 funded startups across a gamut of sectors. 

The formation of the KSRF adds to a series of sops announced by the state government in recent months. In his budget 2023 announcements, chief minister Siddaramiah proposed the setting up of a high-tech incubation centre called INNOVERSE as well as an initial allocation of INR 1 Cr for the ‘Propel’ initiative, which aims to speed up the adoption of solutions developed by state-funded startups by local authorities. 

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