Karnataka Govt announces Rs 10cr fund for women entrepreneurs

The Karnataka government has announced an 'Idea2POC' fund of Rs 10 crores for women entrepreneurs through which the Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology can sanction up to Rs 50 lakh for any woman innovator looking for funds for proof of concept validation, certification, and for other purposes such as to cover costs in manufacturing pilot devices.

The Minister of IT, BT and Tourism, Priyank M Kharge made the announcement to mark the International women's Day. He said women empowerment means building their confidence level to face the world and to achieve their targets.

“I am happy to note that the confederation of women entrepreneurs is promoting the cause of women empowerment by inculcating a culture of entrepreneurship among women and facilitating in shaping their ideas into workable models of business,“ Kharge said in a statement.

The IT/BT Department has created the Idea2PoC Fund under the Multi-Sector Startup Policy which recognises the gaps that exist in the startup eco-system and aims to cover them through strategic interventions.

Karnataka already has three other Idea2POC funds, one for all technology sectors (Rs 10 crore), one focused on agriculture (Rs 2.5 crore) and another focused on tourism (Rs 2.5 crore).