Winning entrepreneurs under ELEVATE feted

The Information Technology Ministry of Karnataka has organised a felicitation for winners of ELEVATE 2025, a programme which identifies and supports promising start-ups at various stages of their entrepreneurial journey, here on Saturday.

The felicitation marked another significant milestone in Karnataka’s journey of nurturing early-stage startup’s innovative ideas and strengthening its start-up ecosystem, said a statement from the ministry.

Some 103 ELEVATE 2025 winners, 33 ELEVATE Unnati winners, and 10 ELEVATE Minorities 2025 start-ups were given a total grant of ₹38.85 crore. Of the total 146 startups recognised under ELEVATE 2025, some 43% were women-led, and 43% were Beyond Bengaluru startups.

ELEVATE provides a one-time Grant-in-Aid of up to ₹ 50 lakh to start-ups. In addition, they were also given mentoring and incubation support at subsidised rates at the state-supported incubation centres to help in product development and validation.

Through ELEVATE, Karnataka has been able to enable entrepreneurs across Karnataka to transform bold ideas into real impact, the statement said.

Speaking at the felicitation ceremony, Priyank Kharge, Minister for Information Technology & Biotechnology and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, said the sustained success of the ELEVATE program lies in its mission-mode implementation.