Karnataka government to fund entrepreneurs, startups across the country

Karnataka government is all set to start funding technology startups based across the country by calling them to register in Karnataka, IT minister Priyank Kharge told ET. 
 
According to the report, entrepreneurs can apply to the Karnataka government for funds provided they register the companies here under the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, 1961, the state minister for information technology, biotechnology and tourism said.
 
"We want to take our startup policy to the national level this year. We will support startups from across the country provided they pay taxes here," Kharge told ET.
 
The startup policy was launched by Karnataka government in 2005. With a corpus of over Rs 300 crore the government set up several funds to back startups across different sectors such as biotechnology, tourism and animation. 
 
According to the minister, around 5,000 startups have registered with the Karnataka government so far under the policy and in 2017, the state had given funds to 250 firms.
 
In the five-year startup policy plan, the state government had set a vision of boosting 20,000 technology-based startups by 2020 in Karnataka and creating 6 lakh direct and 12 lakh indirect new jobs in the sector, reported ET.