Bangalore, NFAPost: Asserting the pre-eminence of Karnataka in the technology landscape, its chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said the state competes with the Silicon Valley in the US and not with other states in the country.
“Our competition is with Silicon Valley. We are going to catch up with it soon,” said Bommai at the maiden global conference on startups in this tech hub.
Silicon Valley in the southern San Francisco Bay Area of California is home to many startup and global technology firms. Apple, Facebook and Google are among the most prominent. It’s also the place of technology-focused institutions centered around Palo Alto’s Stanford University.
Inaugurating the 2-day India Global Innovation Connect (IGIC), the chief minister told Smadja & Smadja president Claude Smadja that Karnataka was not worried about competition, which keeps the state going and growing.
“We convert competition into acceleration by changing gears. Karnataka is at the forefront of startup innovation. Startup is not new to us, as our state is the top destination for startups and not one of the top states. Healthy competition is good for us. We are not against competition,” reiterated Bommai.
Organised by the Switzerland-based strategic advisory firm Smadja & Smadja in partnership with Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), Catamaran Ventures and Tata Digital, the first global conference on startups attracted over 40 international investors, entrepreneurs and innovators to interact with the Indian startup community.
Noting that Karnataka was the first state in the country to have a startup policy, the chief minister said the seeds of startup revolution were sown by then Maharaja of Mysore Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar (1884-1940), who supported industrialisation, banking and innovation much before the country achieved independence.
As the startup capital of India, Bengaluru is home to 400 of the Fortune 500 companies. The tech city has also about 400 research and development (R&D) centres, which is a record as no other city in the world has so many such centres. The city has a number of defence labs like DRDO, aerospace firms, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and public sector behemoths like HAL, BEL and BEML.
“Our government will go the extra mile to ensure the state’s technology leadership continues. We look at the future. We have the ecosystem for the growth of technology and entrepreneurship,” averred Bommai.
Asked about the secret recipe for success of Karnataka in technology, the chief minister said right from early days, the state had the ecosystem to acquire knowledge. Application of the natural and human resources has given us the first-move advantage. The ecosystem was created by the Maharaja and supported by successive governments. Science is the way of life for us. A lot of innovation happens in the farm sector,” said Bommai.
Admitting that the government had no business to be in business, the chief minister said the state was only a facilitator for the growth and development of the industry, be it services or manufacturing.
“Governments may change but policy will not. There is no impact of change of government. Continuity of policy remains. We welcome entrepreneurs from all parts of the country and world. We have a cocktail recipe,” said Bommai.
On Karnataka being the cradle of unicorns, the chief minister said the state government had a funding policy to give funds to startups and entrepreneurs.
“We are not only funding startups, but also facilitating venture capitalists and angel investors to invest in them to become unicorns. We have a funding environment in the state. Our policies bring synergy for the high-tech people. We respect innovations that bring about change in day-to-day life,” the chief minister added.
Many global investors, private equity firms, entrepreneurs and innovators from Germany, Israel, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Switzerland and the US are participating in the event.
“India has always been a land of great entrepreneurial promise for me. As the fourth industrial revolution has begun, it is pertinent to acknowledge that India will play the role of catalyst, with ability to innovate solutions for itself and the world. India has the third largest startup ecosystem,” said Smadja./eom/670 words.
