Episode 5: Is the Government enabling more Indian startups?

For Episode 5 we handed the mic to Gaurav Gupta, who is currently serving as the Principal Secretary, IT, BT, & e-Gov for the Government of Karnataka. We had questions on the government’s participation in the ecosystem and the approach to nurturing Indian startups.[embed]https://youtu.be/1jxOmEHNjhU[/embed]

Some key insights:

• Karnataka’s pioneering Idea to POC plan that helps early stage companies with a grant so that their equity isn’t diluted.
• The Idea to POC plan was introduced by the Government of Karnataka in 2016, and till date, more than 2000+ startups have applied for the grant.
• The Government won’t just provide funds, but invaluable mentorship as well. It believes in the idea of the startup, and the Government is committed to see the idea through, till it becomes a success.
• The Government is focused on startups in various sectors like tourism, agriculture and food processing, health, et al. In fact, sector-specific funds have been set aside to help startups in them particularly.

Gaurav Gupta is an IAS officer, who is currently serving as the Principal Secretary, IT, BT, & e-Gov for the Government of Karnataka. He joined the Indian Civil Services in 1990, in the Karnataka cadre, and has over a quarter of a century of experience in various sectors of the Government like Commerce & Industries, Power, Urban Development, Infrastructure, and Transportation. Mr. Gupta is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and IIT Delhi, where he has studied BTech and MTech in Electrical Engineering, respectively.Mr. Gupta, in his current role as Principal Secretary, IT, BT, & e-Gov for the Government of Karnataka, is one of the most prominent bureaucrats in the thick of policy making in the startup ecosystem. And he was one of the panelists at the recently concluded LetsIgnite 2017. Mr. Gupta shared details about many good initiatives that the Government of Karnataka has taken up to encourage startups in various sectors that need innovations.Let us know what you thought about this episode. Tweet to @letsventurein with your thoughts or comments below.