BENGALURU: The state government on Saturday announced ELEVATE NxT and a Rs 75-crore Beyond Bengaluru Cluster Seed Fund, as a push to deepen and decentralise the state’s startup ecosystem.
The announcements were made at a felicitation ceremony for 146 startups selected under ELEVATE 2025, held as a part of National Startup Month, where the Karnataka Startup Policy 2025–2030 was also unveiled. The newly launched ELEVATE NxT, backed by Rs 150 crore, targets deep-tech startups working in areas such as AI, quantum computing, biotech, green energy and SpaceTech, offering grants of up to Rs 1 crore.
Complementing this, the Beyond Bengaluru Cluster Seed Fund aims to catalyse startup growth across emerging districts. A total grant commitment of Rs 38.85 crore was announced for the ELEVATE 2025 cohort, comprising 103 ELEVATE winners, 33 ELEVATE Unnati startups from SC/ST community, and 10 ELEVATE Minorities startups. Notably, 43% of the selected startups are women-led, while 43% are based beyond Bengaluru.
Addressing the event, IT BT Minister Priyank Kharge said the sustained success of ELEVATE lay in its mission-mode implementation. Launched in 2017, the programme provides non-dilutive grant-in-aid support of up to Rs 50 lakh per startup, along with mentorship and subsidised incubation.
Karnataka remains the first State to offer grant support to startups without taking equity. Sector-wise, the ELEVATE 2025 winners span agri-tech, biotechnology, food processing, aerospace, electronics, healthcare, IT services, education and fintech.
Under ELEVATE 2025, Rs 25.33 crore will be disbursed to the 103 selected startups. The ELEVATE Unnati cohort received Rs 9.52 crore, while ELEVATE Minorities startups were awarded Rs 3.65 crore.
Since its inception, Rs 287.85 crore has been disbursed to 1,230 startups, with 37% from beyond Bengaluru and 28% women-led. The Karnataka Startup Policy 2025–2030, with an outlay of Rs 570.6 crore, targets 25,000 new startups by 2030, positioning Karnataka as a global innovation hub.