Startup Karnataka

ELEVATE and Idea2PoC are the same scheme under two names. Selected startups get a one-time grant-in-aid, plus mentoring and incubation at subsidised rates at a government-supported hub. The last completed general call was ELEVATE 2025, which closed on 17 September 2025; the department's ELEVATE 2026 page is a holding page saying the round is coming soon, so there is no open call right now.

What you get

• A one-time grant-in-aid to build a proof of concept and scale it
• Mentoring and incubation at subsidised rates at the K-Tech Innovation Hub or Centre of Excellence you are assigned to, which winners are required to take up
• A mentoring session before the final pitch, with past winners sharing how their pitch worked

Who can apply

• A private limited company, registered partnership firm or LLP incorporated in Karnataka
• Within ten years of incorporation, with turnover under the ceiling the call states
• Working on innovation or improvement of products, services or processes, with potential to create jobs or wealth
• Not a subsidiary, franchise, reseller or part of a group company, and not a section 8 company, trust, society, association or non-profit
• Not formed by a merger or demerger, and not part of a government initiative, PPP or aided partner
• Not a past winner of ELEVATE, Idea2PoC or a Grand Challenge, and no other state grant, within the last three years
• The Unnati track adds SC/ST directors or partners holding at least seventy per cent of equity with a valid digital caste certificate from the Karnataka Revenue Department; the Minorities track adds minority-community directors or partners holding at least fifty-one per cent with a valid digital minority certificate

How selection works: four stages — eligibility and document verification, pitch-deck evaluation, multi-city pitching, then a Grand Finale. Scoring is out of 100: novelty and innovation 30, business model 30, socio-economic impact 20, team strength 10, budget allocation 10. Juries are nominated by NASSCOM, TiE, IESA, ABLE, ABAI, academia and VC firms, and the final call is made by the Idea2PoC Evaluation Committee chaired by the Secretary of the department.

How to apply: register with Startup Karnataka, then log in to the department portal when a call opens and submit the online form with your incorporation or registration certificate, MoA or partnership deed, any caste or minority certificate the track needs, a pitch deck and a notarised affidavit on e-stamp paper naming Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society as second party. One application per entity, and nothing can be changed after submission. Questions go to startupcell@karnataka.gov.in.

ELEVATE NxT funds deep-tech ventures through milestone-based grant-in-aid support and mentorship. The 2026 call opened on 18 January 2026, closed on 24 February 2026, and the winners have been announced, so it is between intakes.

What you get

• Milestone-based grant-in-aid support
• Mentorship through the programme

Who can apply

• Startups based anywhere in India, incorporated as a private limited company, registered partnership firm, LLP or a cooperative society
• Within twenty years of incorporation, with turnover under the deep-tech ceiling
• An independent entity, not a subsidiary, spin-off or internal division of an existing company
• A team of at least two people
• Technology readiness level between three and eight, with a proof of concept, prototype or scientific validation to show it
• Not an ELEVATE grant beneficiary in the last three years
• Winners registered outside Karnataka must move their registered office into the state within four months of the result, or the application is treated as rejected

Priority areas include quantum technologies, energy and climate, mobility and logistics, generative AI, cybersecurity, fintech, space and satellite, aerospace and defence, agritech and foodtech, health and life sciences, nanotechnology, semiconductors and microelectronics, industrial automation, advanced materials and manufacturing, and robotics.

How selection works: applications are checked for data sufficiency, then anonymised and allocated to two jury members. Round one scores the qualification deck and the declared technology readiness level, and one of the two jurors agreeing is enough to pass. Startups that clear it pitch in person, need at least 60 marks to reach the Grand Finale, and the final score is weighted 40 per cent from the first pitching round and 60 per cent from the finale.

How to apply: submit the online form on the department portal with a 200-word statement of why you are deep-tech, your technology readiness level, and two decks. The first deck is anonymous — no company name, logo, founder name or address, and the justification within two slides, or you are disqualified. The second covers the business model. You also need a notarised affidavit naming Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society as second party, a CA-certified revenue certificate, the incorporation certificate, and the MoA or partnership deed. One application per startup.

RGEP is aimed at young science and engineering graduates who want to build something instead of taking a job. It supports 30 innovators chosen through a selection process, paying a monthly subsistence grant for twelve months so they can survive the ideation phase, and it is meant to end with a prototype, a minimum viable product or a proof of concept that has business potential. The department's page carries no open window at the moment.

What you get

• A monthly stipend or subsistence grant for twelve months

Who can apply

• An Indian citizen domiciled in Karnataka
• Holding a three or four-year science or engineering degree; two years of full-time work experience after the degree is preferred
• Not employed by any company for remuneration, on contract, outsourced or permanent
• Holding no stake in any other startup
• Aged 30 or under on the date of application
• Willing to work on the idea full time for the twelve months after selection
• Has not taken significant prior public, private or academic grants for the idea, counting both cash and in-kind support
• Earning no revenue from any product or service, related or not
• The idea sits between early ideation and early prototype development — a finished prototype or a commercially ready solution is ineligible, and the concept must not have been put on the market in any form

How selection works: first a data sufficiency check on eligibility and documents including the pitch deck, then an in-person jury round of twenty minutes per innovator in front of three members drawn from industry associations, academia and corporates. Scoring is out of 100: novelty and innovation 30, potential socio-economic impact 30, clarity of the problem statement 20, feasibility and implementation 10, commercial potential 10.

How to apply: the operational guidelines are linked from the programme page. Ask the Karnataka Startup Cell at startupcell@karnataka.gov.in when the next call opens.

WEscalate supports 30 women-led startups a year in two cohorts of 15, each cohort sector-specific, delivered by incubators and accelerators the department maps and selects for the region. The focus sectors are biotech, agritech, medtech and healthtech, and cleantech. The department funds the delivery partner rather than paying founders directly, so you join through the incubator running your cohort.

What you get

• Six months of incubation: business skills training, mentoring, peer learning, market and customer analysis, business plan development, pitch preparation and investor connects, in a hybrid format with personalised mentoring
• Six months of acceleration for the startups that graduate, focused on market validation, enabling funding and market access
• A deployment grant shared equally by the top three performers, to put their product or service on the ground

Who can apply

• Early-stage women-led startups, for the incubation half
• Existing growth and scale-up stage startups may apply directly to the acceleration half if the incubator cannot fill all 15 places from the incubation cohort

How selection works: the department decides follow-on funding for the acceleration stage based on how the startups performed during incubation. Incubators and accelerators are chosen on their ability to run region-specific programmes.

How to apply: the department's page does not publish a founder application form or dates. Ask the Karnataka Startup Cell at startupcell@karnataka.gov.in which incubator is running the current cohort.

PMA is about selling to government, not about funding. The department runs a call for proposals to empanel credible startups, and state departments and state public sector units then procure technology products and services from that list. Empanelment is valid for three years, and the process is repeated every year so the list stays current.

What you get

• A place on a pre-qualified list used for public procurement of technology products and services
• Visibility for your solution with state departments and public sector units across twelve sectors

Who can apply

• Startups registered with Startup Karnataka, which is what makes you recognised for PMA benefits
• Startups also registered on the Karnataka e-Procurement Portal, which is what lets you take part in government tenders

How to apply: respond to the department's call for proposals when it is issued. Complete both registrations first, because they are prerequisites rather than steps in the application. The government order, the list of eligible technology products and solutions, and the amendment to the rules are all linked from the programme page.

The department runs this to find and back innovation outside the formal startup world and upgrade it for wider use, with an emphasis on reducing the drudgery of rural households. Applications are assessed by an Expert Approval Committee, and feasible projects get a financial grant on its recommendation.

What you get

• A grant for a feasible project, on the Expert Approval Committee's recommendation

Who can apply

• An Indian citizen who is a domicile of Karnataka
• Grassroot innovators — farmers, artisans, labourers, technicians and others
• The innovation must not be part of any government initiative, aided partner or public-private partnership firm
• Neither you nor the innovation may have already received funds from the Government of Karnataka or the Government of India
• You need a voter ID or ration card and proof of profession, such as a professional qualification certificate, professional ID card or a labour department ID card

Broad areas covered are agricultural, healthcare, environmental, technological, educational, social and cultural innovations, community organisation and governance, traditional crafts and skills, and local economic development.

How selection works: scored out of 100 — novelty 30, social impact 30, business potential 20, feasibility and implementation 10, environmental sustainability 10.

How to apply: the programme page describes the scheme but does not publish a form or dates. Ask the Karnataka Startup Cell at startupcell@karnataka.gov.in.

These are the fiscal incentives attached to the Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-30, claimed after you have spent the money rather than won a call. They are the one route here that is open on a rolling basis.

What you get

• Reimbursement of a share of net state GST, available for seven years from the start of commercial production, capped against fixed capital investment
• A patent subsidy covering a share of actual filing expenses, with a limited number of claims a year, for both domestic and international filings; part is released on proof of submission to a recognised patent office and the rest after the supporting documents are verified

Who can apply

• Entities meeting the startup definition in the Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-30
• Registered with the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society as a startup

How to apply: upload the documents each incentive lists on the Startup Karnataka portal and submit the claim. The GST claim needs the GST registration certificate, a CA-certified statement of net GST paid, tax returns for the year claimed, bank statements showing the spend, proof of fixed capital investment, and a notarised affidavit on stamp paper. Claims must be submitted once a year and no later than one year after the end of the financial year in which the GST was incurred. The patent claim needs invoices, receipts, bank statements and the same affidavit, and must be made within a year of filing the patent.

NAIN 2.0 puts the ecosystem inside educational institutions rather than asking students to come to it. Students are encouraged to find local problems and solve them with frugal, technology-based working prototypes, with mentors assigned to help them build a business model. This is not a route an outside founder applies to — you reach it through a participating institution.

What you get

• Funding support per selected student project, for a limited number of projects a year, over three years
• An incubator established at your institution
• Mentoring, and a mapped anchor incubator or accelerator that hands your centre through implementation and industry connects

Who can apply

• Students at technology institutions of higher learning located outside Bengaluru Urban District
• Under the Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-30, 50 new centres are to be set up, prioritising the state's government engineering colleges — 35 for IT and electronics and 15 for biotechnology

How to apply: through your institution's NAIN centre. The department's page does not publish a direct student application route.

LEAP is a five-year state programme to decentralise innovation beyond Bengaluru, approved by government order in August 2025. It is the wrapper several other things sit inside, including ELEVATE NxT, the fund of funds, six centres of excellence and the labs. There is no LEAP application form — you apply to whichever component fits you.

What it covers

• The Karnataka Startup Foundry, to build entrepreneurial thinking in students
• A fund of funds providing equity capital for startups in emerging clusters
• The ELEVATE NXT grant-in-aid programme for deep-tech
• Six centres of excellence for research and industry-academia work
• Elevate Beyond Bengaluru, decentralising startup grants to tier-2 and tier-3 cities
• Incubators, accelerators and growth labs offering plug-and-play workspace
• Innovation labs in educational institutions and prototype labs for product development
• Innovation events, hackathons, bootcamps, digital clinics for legal, financial and enterprise support, a critical research fund, event participation support and marketing tools

Where it applies: six clusters outside Bengaluru, split into class A — Mysuru–Chamarajanagar, Mangaluru–Udupi and Hubbali–Belagavi–Dharwad — and class B — Tumkur, Kalaburagi and Shivamogga.

The Booster Kit is the Karnataka Startup Cell's list of vetted service providers, each with its own page entry, service list and a register link. Offers on it include company management software, investor readiness and due diligence work, market research frameworks, mock pitches, incorporation and company formation, intellectual property protection, contract drafting and review, litigation consulting, recruitment, software and app development, and digital marketing.

How to apply: use the register link next to the partner you want on the Booster Kit page.

The department says it will support early-stage startups in the emerging technology clusters outside Bengaluru Urban District with seed capital, mentorship and access to investor networks, so that regional ventures can scale. Its page is a single paragraph — no eligibility list, no dates and no form — so treat it as announced rather than open, and ask the Karnataka Startup Cell before planning around it.

The department states it will establish a fund of funds to back startups whose innovations take longer to mature — scientific research and high-impact work — with the primary aim of supporting startups from the emerging clusters outside Bengaluru. The LEAP page describes it as providing equity-based capital for startups in those clusters. As with the cluster seed fund, the page is written in future tense and carries no eligibility criteria, dates or form.