Karnataka bets ₹400 crore on AI deeptech: what government leaders should take away
Karnataka has committed ₹400 crore, alongside venture investors, to back AI-focused deeptech startups announced at the Future Makers Conclave during Bengaluru Tech Summit 2025. The signal is clear: build a stronger innovation engine, attract serious founders, and compound the state's lead in technology.
The move pairs public capital with private diligence. It reduces early risk, speeds up experimentation, and keeps value creation anchored in the state.
The commitment at a glance
- ₹400 crore pooled with venture investors to support AI and deeptech ventures.
- 11,000 participants gathered at the conclave-founders, investors, mentors, and industry leaders.
- 143 startups named under the state's Elevate program-its largest cohort to date.
- To date, the program has funded 1,084 companies, with 390 based Beyond Bengaluru.
Why this matters for government
Public-private capital working in sync speeds up solution-building in areas the state cares about-health, education, mobility, agritech, urban services, and cybersecurity. It also encourages founders to build for India-first problem statements while keeping IP, jobs, and taxes local.
- Co-investment brings market discipline to public funding and reduces the chance of misallocation.
- Deeptech ventures can translate research from labs into products that serve citizens and industry.
- "Beyond Bengaluru" participation helps distribute opportunity and talent pipelines across districts.
- Stronger startup outcomes expand the vendor base for digital public infrastructure and mission-mode programs.
Messages from the stage
Priyank Kharge, Minister for Electronics, IT, BT, and RDPR, framed the effort simply: bring startups and VCs together to build "future makers" that solve real problems. His promise: accelerate progress and build an ecosystem that others benchmark against.
From spaceflight to startups, speakers reinforced a bias for learning under pressure. Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of ISRO described how astronauts relearn basics in microgravity, manage intense launch forces, and rebuild muscle on return-discipline that mirrors how high-stakes tech projects demand reset, rigor, and resilience.
Zepto cofounder Kaivalya Vohra unpacked the 10-minute delivery model: customer signal first, then fast iterations, then systems. He highlighted the value of hiring experienced operators early and credited Bengaluru's talent for execution. Former tennis star Sania Mirza added a simple rule for hard days: pressure is part of the job; setbacks teach; show up again tomorrow.
What to do next (for departments, agencies, PSUs)
- Define 10-15 clear public problem statements each quarter (health fraud, road safety, grievance triage, school learning gaps). Invite startups to build pilots with time-boxed milestones.
- Stand up a co-investment and procurement fast lane: smaller contracts, faster approvals, strict outcome metrics, and pay-for-performance triggers.
- Create data access with guardrails: anonymized datasets, APIs, and sandboxes that meet privacy, security, and audit requirements.
- Run challenge grants in districts Beyond Bengaluru to deepen the talent base and test local delivery models.
- Upskill teams on AI fundamentals, prompt fluency, and vendor assessment so evaluation improves and pilots don't stall. For role-based learning paths, see AI courses by job.
- Institute governance early: model documentation, bias and safety reviews, human-in-the-loop for critical workflows, and clear exit criteria for underperforming pilots.
- Track outcomes visibly: cost-to-serve, turnaround time, citizen satisfaction, error rates, and ROI-publish quarterly.
Program links and references
Learn more about the state's tech initiatives at the Department of Electronics, IT & BT: itbt.karnataka.gov.in. Event details for this year's summit: bengalurutechsummit.com.
Event snapshot
The three-day Bengaluru Tech Summit closed with 20,680 delegates from 57 countries across its conferences. More than 46,000 business visitors joined, taking total attendance to roughly 92,500.
Bottom line: public capital can set direction, private capital can stress-test ideas, and together they shorten the distance between policy and outcomes. Karnataka is betting on that flywheel.
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