Who is ELEVATE Shakti for?

Women-led startups — where a woman or group of women is a founder or co-founder holding at least a 51% stake in the company or firm.

What stake must women founders hold?

At least 51%, maintained for the entire project duration. Any dilution that breaches this leads to disqualification or termination of assistance.

Does ELEVATE Shakti take equity in my startup?

No. It is a grant-in-aid and is fully non-dilutive — no equity is taken.

Can I also apply to other ELEVATE calls?

Yes. A startup can apply to multiple calls, but a single pitch is evaluated across all of them and the total grant is capped at ₹50 lakh.

ELEVATE Shakti 2026 — Startup Karnataka Women-Led Grant – Up to ₹50 Lakhs

Grant providers

Provider

Startup Karnataka

Bengaluru · Karnataka · India

Overview Startup Karnataka is the Government of Karnataka's flagship startup ecosystem brand, executed by the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) under the Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T. It is widely regarded as one of India's most active state-level…

Learn more

Application Process

1
Online Application Submission
Submit the application on the official ELEVATE portal with incorporation/registration details, business and innovation details, founding team credentials, financials, a grant utilisation plan and all mandatory documents, including a shareholding pattern showing women founder(s)/co-founder(s) with at least a 51% stake.
You
2
3
4
5

How to apply

Four steps from draft to disbursement — one action each.

1
Draft your application
Answer the form inside the grant tracker — AI drafts each response using your past answers, so you're not starting from a blank page.
2
Line up your documents
Keep every document from the checklist ready in one folder. Missing docs are the #1 reason applications get bounced.
3
Submit on the official portal
Use the official application link and verify all details before final submission.
4
Follow up
Reach out 5–7 days after submitting to confirm receipt and ask about the review timeline.

ELEVATE Shakti 2026 is the women-led call of the Government of Karnataka's ELEVATE grant-in-aid scheme, run by the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) under the Department of Electronics, IT, BT & S&T. It is reserved for women-led startups and offers a one-time grant of up to ₹50 lakh to turn an idea into a working proof-of-concept.

To qualify, a woman or group of women must be a founder or co-founder holding at least a 51% stake in the company or firm, and that shareholding must hold through the entire project duration. Shakti runs alongside the general ELEVATE 2026 call and two other sibling calls — ELEVATE Aspire for startups registered beyond Bengaluru Urban, and ELEVATE Unnati for SC/ST-owned startups. A startup may apply to more than one call, but a single pitch is evaluated across all applied calls and the cumulative grant is capped at ₹50 lakh.

Funding is released in two equal tranches against milestones, beginning after a tripartite agreement is signed between KITS, the assigned K-Tech innovation partner and the startup. Selected startups are also mapped to government-backed incubators, accelerators, Centres of Excellence and innovation hubs for mentoring and incubation support at subsidized rates.

Shakti applicants skip the desk-based pitch deck evaluation and proceed directly to in-person Multi-City Pitching.

ELEVATE Shakti 2026 — Startup Karnataka Women-Led Grant

ELEVATE Shakti 2026 — Startup Karnataka Women-Led Grant

Grant providers

See your fit score for this grant

Application Process

How to apply

Frequently Asked Questions

About this grant

Eligibility

Timelines & Process

Benefits & Funding

Grants closing soon

Competitions closing soon

Equity closing soon

Debt programs

Subsidies

Startup Software Credits

Notion

Render

Akamai Technologies

Huawei

Vultr

Mixpanel

Google

Microsoft

Razorpay

DigitalOcean

IBM

Datadog