Karnataka Startup Grants & Funding
India's startup capital — home to Flipkart, Razorpay, Swiggy, Ola, and thousands of tech startups.
About Karnataka Startup Grants
The Karnataka state government supports startups through 23 active funding schemes covering seed grants, incubation support, marketing assistance, and tax benefits. Most schemes are open to startups registered in Karnataka that are DPIIT-recognised or eligible for recognition. Below are all currently active programmes.
Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-30: Reimbursement of State GST
Reimburses part of the net State GST paid by startups registered with Karnataka's startup cell, capped by the startup's fixed capital investment.
WEscalate - Karnataka women-led startup programme
One-year incubation and acceleration programme for women-led startups run by mapped incubators, funded by the state as grant-in-aid to the incubator.
NSRCEL Impact Orbit: Skilling and Livelihood Innovations
Accelerator for ventures in youth employment, future skills, self-employment, rural income and inclusive participation, including access to grants for select ventures.
NSRCEL Circular Bharat Accelerator
Accelerator (NITI Aayog/Atal Innovation Mission, HUL and Xynteo partnership) for circular-economy ventures; funding amounts are not stated.
Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-30: Internship Support
Monthly stipend subsidy for startups hiring interns aged 18-35 for up to six months.
Beyond Bengaluru Cluster Seed Fund - Karnataka
Seed funding, mentorship and investor access for early-stage startups in emerging tech clusters outside Bengaluru Urban.
Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-30: R&D Project Grants (Triple Helix)
Co-funds joint research projects between a startup, an academic institution and an industry partner.
Namma Bengaluru Challenge '26
Climate challenge for Bengaluru-focused innovations in construction, water and sanitation, air pollution and waste management, offering pilot grants and possible seed capital.
Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-30: Patent Subsidy
Reimburses patent filing costs for domestic and international filings by Karnataka-registered startups.
NSRCEL Impact Orbit: AgeTech Innovations
8-9 month impact accelerator with Capgemini for ventures serving older adults, with grants for selected ventures.
Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-30: PF/ESI Reimbursement
Reimburses the employer PF/ESI contribution for new jobs created by young Karnataka startups.
NSRCEL Women Startup Program (powered by Kotak BizLabs), Cohort 6
IIM Bangalore programme for women founders in three stages, with grants for ventures in the incubation phase and no equity taken.
Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-30: Quality Certification Cost Reimbursement
Reimburses the fee for industry-standard quality certifications such as CE, ISO or CMMi for startups registered with KITS.
NAIN 2.0 (New Age Innovation Network) - Karnataka
Funds student innovation projects at 50 higher-education institutions outside Bengaluru Urban, supported by anchor incubators.
Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-30: Global Karnataka (international events)
Reimburses a share of the cost of taking part in international events, conferences and trade shows, including travel for up to two employees.
Grassroot Innovation Programme - Karnataka
Grant for grassroot innovators such as farmers, artisans and technicians in Karnataka to perfect and commercialise their innovations.
Rajiv Gandhi Entrepreneurship Program (RGEP) - Karnataka
Monthly subsistence grant for early-stage young innovators in Karnataka building a prototype or MVP.
Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-30: Cloud Storage Cost Reimbursement
One-time reimbursement of cloud computing and storage spend for early-stage Karnataka startups.
ELEVATE (Idea2PoC) Grant-in-Aid - Karnataka
One-time grant-in-aid for Karnataka-registered startups to take an idea to proof of concept or scale it through technology work. Selected startups also get mentoring and subsidised incubation at government-backed centres.
ELEVATE NxT 2026 - Karnataka DeepTech Grant
DeepTech grant-in-aid track under the LEAP programme, open to startups anywhere in India with technology readiness level 3 to 8. Funding is released against milestones after multi-round evaluation.
ELEVATE Unnati - Karnataka (SC/ST founders)
ELEVATE track reserved for startups led by Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe founders in Karnataka, giving a one-time grant to build a proof of concept or scale up.
ELEVATE Minorities - Karnataka
ELEVATE track for Karnataka startups led by founders from minority communities, offering early-stage grant-in-aid for proof of concept or growth.
Grand Challenges Karnataka
Challenge-based grant-in-aid for technology solutions to social problems posed with partner government departments. Phase I funds several solutions; one is shortlisted for a larger Phase II grant.