Karnataka Reviews Policy Support for 8K Women Entrepreneurs

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Friday, 13 November 2026

The Department of Electronics, IT & Biotechnology organized an interactive meeting with women entrepreneurs in Bengaluru on Thursday to discuss business challenges and explore ways to make State policies more responsive to industry requirements.

The session was held ahead of the 29th Bengaluru Tech Summit, scheduled from November 17 to 19. It was conducted under the theme ‘Enabling Women in Tech in Karnataka: From Policy Intent to Action’.

N. Manjula, Secretary of the Department of Electronics, IT & Biotechnology, and Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, CEO of the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), led the discussions, focusing on addressing operational barriers and strengthening support for women in the technology sector.

Key Highlights:

• Karnataka has around 8,000 women entrepreneurs and start-ups, supported by various government schemes
• Entrepreneurs highlighted challenges in accessing early-stage funding, affordable AI computing, markets and government procurement
• The government plans to explore subsidized AI facilities and strengthen support for women-led start-ups across the State

In the open interaction, entrepreneurs discussed the issues that are important to their businesses in building and scaling. This comprised raising early-stage capital for Deeptech and biotechnology companies, providing low-cost computing power for AI companies, penetrating the market and dealing with government procurement.

Manjula put on record the need for review of on-ground policy implementation based on the feedback received. The feedback received during the discussion would be useful for the government to move the conversation forward towards more actionable solutions, she said, adding "with a particular focus on access to funding, markets and infrastructure.

There are currently about 8,000 women entrepreneurs or start-ups in Karnataka. Officials pointed out that the State government has already initiated various schemes, such as Women@Work, WEscalate, BioWise and ELEVATE Shakti, which have provided financial support of ₹118.98 crore to more than 400 women-led ventures since 2017, including ₹23.19 crore to 63 start-ups in 2026.

The department decided to discuss the possibility of providing subsidized access to AI computing facilities within the proposed AI Hub and common facilities for hardware and robotics start-ups to assist the specific challenges.

Manjula also urged the founders to leverage the ‘Government First’ scheme that offers up to ₹25 lakh pilot support for solving problems in the State departments.

Panelists also highlighted the need to create a more favorable environment for entrepreneurs outside Bengaluru via mentorship, industry collaboration and regional incubators.