Google and Karnataka Collaborate To Support Women Entrepreneurs and Emerging Startups

By: WE Staff | Saturday, 19 November 2022

In order to support burgeoning companies in the state of Karnataka, Google and the Karnataka government have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). In accordance with the agreement, Google will organise online safety and digital curriculum for schoolchildren as well as mentoring and training programmes for startups and job seekers.

The company announced that it will collaborate with the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) to give women-led startups and founders access to partners and training in the cloud, user experience (UX), Android, Web, product strategy, leadership, and marketing in the state's Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

Along with helping qualified people enrol in Google's Career Certification programme, which will prepare them for digital skills that are in high demand like IT, project management, UX design, automation, and data analytics, Google will also award scholarships to "underserved youth" and "job seekers." Google will also assist credential holders in locating employment in the sector.

Google will assist teachers in instructing pupils on how to be safe and wise online for safety programmes in schools. Additionally, it will assist educators in developing interactive curricula for online learning.

“Karnataka has been at the forefront of the startup revolution. As we move forward, we want to enable a collaborative and inclusive digital environment for startups to grow and thrive. I am sure this collaboration (with Google) will also support many of our entrepreneurs and innovators from the emerging tech clusters beyond Bengaluru," said C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister for Higher Education, IT, BT, Science and Technology and Skill Development, Government of Karnataka.

India has a thriving startup culture, but not all entrepreneurs have access to funding, support, or mentorship programmes that can help them develop novel ideas and scale up, according to Karthik Padmanabhan, developer relations lead at Google India.

“Through our collaboration with KITS, we want to strengthen the support for the local startup ecosystem, and enable equal representation for women. We are also proud to support the Karnataka government in helping young school children develop early online safety awareness, and in equipping youth with essential skills to secure in-demand jobs and advance their careers," added Padmanabhan.

Out of the 73,205 startups in India, Karnataka has the second-highest number of companies recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) (8,902). According to DPIIT, Maharashtra had the most such startups with 13,541 as of 5 July.