‘Modification in start-up policy a boost for HK’

A persistent struggle by a few Information Technology & Bio-Technology start-ups in Hyderabad Karnataka has forced the government to modify its Karnataka Start-up policy so as to accommodate backward Hyderabad Karnataka (HK) region, said Chandrashekar Hiremath, the president of Shramajeevi Vedike.

Addressing a media conference here on Sunday, he said that Steering Committee headed by Gaurav Gupta, Principal Secretary, IT & BT Department, in its meeting on September 10 and 11, acknowledged the injustice to HK in the selection of start-ups for Elevate-100, a government initiative for handholding and fast-tracking entrepreneurship by extending non-refundable financial assistance of ₹50 lakh to start-ups in the field.

The committee also decided to modify the Karnataka Start-up policy to ensure fair representations of regions in the government scheme of financial assistance.

It has also formulated three schemes meant for HK region: K-Tech Innovation Hub at Kalaburagi, K-Tech Technology Business Incubator at Bidar and Assisted Accelerated Idea2POC for the start-ups in the region, he added.

“Over 100 start-ups from across the State were selected under the Elevation-2017 for financial assistance and there were none from HK. In Elevation-2018 also, around the same number were selected and again there was none from HK. We persistently struggled against this. Now, considering our demands, the government has withheld the announcement of the start-ups selected for Elevation-2018 for revising the list for incorporation of some of the start-ups from here,” said Sharan S. Ambesinge, an entrepreneur who heads an information technology start-up who was in the forefront of the struggle.

When asked, Mr. Ambesinge said that 19 start-ups from HK region had applied for financial aid under 2018 and hoped that at least half of them would figure in the revised list. He thanked Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy for considering their demands and acting swiftly on the matter.