Karnataka govt will go any miles to back startups: Bommai

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai assured that his government will go the extra mile to support startups, and is not worried about the competition.

He was speaking after inaugurating the ‘India Global Innovation Connect’ which the organisers claim to be India’s first global conference on startups.

The event is organised by Smadja & Smadja, a Switzerland-based strategic advisory firm, in partnership with Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), Catamaran Ventures and Tata Digital.

Noting that Karnataka is at the forefront of startup innovation, Bommai said Bengaluru is home to 400 of the Fortune 500 companies.

During his conversation with Claude Smadja, President of Smadja & Smadja advisory, the Chief Minister said, “The Karnataka government will go any mile in supporting startups. We are not worried about the competition. It keeps us going and growing. We convert the competition into acceleration.” Averring that Karnataka was the first state in the country to introduce a startup policy, he said the seeds of the startup revolution were sowed by the Maharaja of Mysuru who supported industrialization, banking and innovation much before the country attained independence.

The inauguration was also attended by a galaxy of international investors, private equity firms, entrepreneurs and innovators from Singapore, Israel, Switzerland, the US, Japan, Korea and Germany, a release said.

“India has always been a land of great entrepreneurial promise for me. As the 4th Industrial revolution has begun, it is pertinent to acknowledge that India will play the role of a catalyst especially with its ability to innovate solutions for itself and the world. India now has the world’s third-largest start-up ecosystem,” Claude Smadja said.

Over 100 speakers from India and countries like Singapore, Israel, Switzerland, the US, Japan, Korea and Germany are participating at the two-day conference.

The panelists in 22 sessions will focus on technological partnerships, ideas on Greentech, Fintech, Deeptech, Edtech, Web 3.0, Super Apps, and Unicorn Growth stories and partnerships.