Bengaluru: Digital economy mission to be launched in Feb, says Deputy Chief Minister C.N.Ashwatha Narayana

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister C.N.Ashwatha Narayana said on Saturday that the "Karnataka Digital Economy Mission" aimed at promoting more than seven thousand e-commerce start-ups and gig economies will be officially launched in February.

'Elevate Unnati' is a grant-in-aid program (maximum up to Rs 50 lakh) dedicated to start-ups promoted by SC/ST entrepreneurs and 19 startups were given grants of up to Rs 30 lakh. This is funded by the Social Welfare Department under the SCSP/TSP scheme.

"Budding entrepreneurs should focus on finding novel solutions to the existing problem, to make their products market-fit, to build the right team, and have the mindset of continuous learning and grit to make their ideas a reality," Narayana suggested while addressing after presenting awards and distributing cheques to winners of "Elevate Unnati- 2020' in a ceremony held at Vidhana Soudha.

"Karnataka State has an eco-system that helps start-ups to flourish. Recently, Bengaluru has been declared "Rapidly Growing Tech City" by the UK, and further, the State has been named as "Most Innovative State of the Country' for the second time in a row by NITI Aayog.

Entrepreneurs should make use of the existing ecosystem comprising incubators, accelerators, centers of excellence, mentors, TBI's, and academia to emerge as the champions of innovation, he said.

"The State which is at present a 52 billion dollar digital economy aims to become a 300 billion dollar economy in the next five years. To achieve this the expected change need to be seen in every village," he opined.

Out of 91 applicants 19 startups were shortlisted and declared as winners of Elevate Unnati 2020. 14 startups have been selected under the SC category and 05 startups under the ST category. Out of 19 startups, 03 startups are led by women entrepreneurs and 07 startups represent the Tier – 2 & 3 cities of the State.

Also, this time a special mention is the highest scorer in Elevate Unnati is from the Hyderabad – Karnataka (HK) region.