Programme for student entrepreneurs launched by the Karnataka government

The Karnataka government’s Department of Information technology, Science and Technology, and Biotechnology has launched a programme to empower and support start-ups by students in the state. The initiative was taken to encourage student entrepreneurs to move forward.

The launched programme happens to be a part of the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society and is called E-Step.

The programme is known to focus on boot camps, mentoring and specific training programs which cover different aspects of entrepreneurship. This programme is specially designed for the students/entrepreneurs/start-ups to understand the basics of entrepreneurship from qualified and experienced trainers as stated by the state government in one of their comment.

The very first step of E-step will be to conduct and organize day-long boot camps across all New Age incubation networks across the state.

Bootcamps will be held at around 30 colleges between 12^th august and 14^th September this year. Some of the locations include Chikkaballapura, Mandya, Hassan, Tumakuru, Shivamogga, Ballari, Davanagree, Dakshina Kannada, Mangaluru, Dharwad, Belagavi, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, and Bagalkot.

Dr. E.V. Ramana Reddy, Additional Chief Secretary to the government of Karnataka said:

“The government of Karnataka is keen to instill the spirit of entrepreneurship and E-step is one such initiative where we identify and groom young talent. We have received an overwhelming response to boot camps across the state with over 400 registrations per day.”

He also added:

“E-step helps in lateral and inclusive growth and further enhances our outreach to Tier II and Tier III cities. Our aim is to leverage the talent pool in the state to augment Karnataka’s position as the Start-up Capital of India.”

As of now, there are 2499 students between the age group of 18 to 26 who have registered. Around 50 percent of the students are female.

The statement said:

“The Bootcamp gives participants an overview of the current start-up system. It acts as a platform for ideation where teams will work on various ideas based on problems, solutions, competitors, and customer.”

Student’s registering for the programme will be working on product design and marketing. Not just that but they will also have a session on product development, sales and customer engagement, business model and creation of a pitch deck. The programme Bootcamp also include a mick pitch session and a mentor talk.

Overall, this is a great initiative taken which is not only beneficial for the state but also for the students.