Karnataka govt collaborates with Google to enhance startup ecosystem in state

Bengaluru, Nov 18 (KNN) The Karnataka government on Thursday entered into an agreement with Google to enhance the startup ecosystem in the state through digital skilling initiatives.

As per reports, Google under this partnership will collaborate with Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) to offer women-led founders and startups across tier 2 and tier 3 cities access to essential training, partners, and expertise on tech giant’s suite of tools and technologies.

Multiple knowledge and mentorship sessions in areas such as cloud, user experience, Android, web, product strategy, leadership and marketing will also be conducted to help the young entrepreneurs modernise their tech skills.

"We are excited to collaborate with Google and bring the best of their knowledge, expertise and understanding of the technology ecosystem to strengthen digital capabilities in Karnataka", said Karnataka's minister for Higher Education, IT, BT, Science and Technology and Skill Development CN Ashwath Narayan.

"Karnataka has been at the forefront of the startup revolution. As we move forward, we want to enable a collaborative and an inclusive digital environment for startups to grow and thrive. I am sure this collaboration will also support many of our entrepreneurs and innovators from the emerging tech clusters of Beyond Bengaluru," he said.

According to an official statement released by the company, Google will also extend scholarships for Google Career Certificates to young people and job seekers in digital skills that are currently in high demand such as IT Support, IT Automation, project management, data analytics, UX Design and digital marketing and e-commerce among others.

Apart from this, Google will equip teachers in local schools with essential training to teach students the necessary skills to promote the fundamentals of online safety and digital citizenship through an interactive curriculum as part of the company's ‘Be Internet Awesome’ programme.

“It will also work with the Karnataka Fintech Task Group to increase the adoption of digital payments by driving more awareness among users,” the statement said.

"Through our collaboration with KITS, we want to strengthen the support for the local startup ecosystem, enable equal representation for women and level the playing field across the state," said Karthik Padmanabhan, Developer Relations Lead, Google India.

Padmanabhan said they are also "proud to support the Karnataka government in helping young school children develop early online safety awareness, and in equipping youth and job seekers with essential skills to secure in-demand jobs and advance their careers."

Over the years, Google stated it has mentored over 1,500 startups that have collectively raised over USD 2 billion and created over 12,000 jobs. Through its startup accelerator, the company says it has nurtured 116 startups across six batches since 2015.  (KNN Bureau)