Google signs MoU with Karnataka govt, to support local start-ups

In yet another boost for start-ups in Karnataka, Google has now partnered with the state government to support emerging local start-ups and create opportunities through digital skilling. For the same, Google has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Karnataka to support their vision to promote innovation and spur the growth of start-ups across the state. The Indian start-up ecosystem is the world’s third largest such ecosystem, with Karnataka being the start-up hub of India.

C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister for Higher Education, IT, BT, Science and Technology and Skill Development, Government of Karnataka, said, “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.” 

“India has a flourishing start-up community, yet not all founders have equal access to capital, support networks or mentorship. These are critical resources that can help the start-up ecosystem to continuously learn, innovate and evolve. Through our collaboration with KITS, we want to strengthen the support for the local start-up ecosystem, enable equal representation for women and level the playing field across the State,” said Karthik Padmanabhan, Developer Relations Lead, Google India.

Under the MoU, Google will work together with the Karnataka government in various areas, including offering essential training and mentorship programs to start-ups across non-metro cities, Google Career Certificates scholarships to make candidates job ready with digital skills and online safety and digital citizenship programs for school children. 

Knowledge sessions

Google plans to help start-ups across metro and non-metro cities in the state to innovate and scale their business by sharing expertise about growing successful organisations, and adopting strong tech architectures, methodology, and business practices in administration. Additionally, a series of knowledge sessions will be organised under Android and Cloud Series to help with growth, monetisation and tech skills.

Training to women-led founders and start-ups

In collaboration with the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS), Google plans to work with women-led founders and start-ups across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities to offer essential training, access to partners, expertise on Google’s suite of tools and technologies, along with knowledge and mentorship sessions in areas such as Cloud, User Experience, Android, Web, Product Strategy, Leadership and Marketing.

Google Career Certificates scholarships for youth

Google will collaborate with KITS to provide underserved youth and job seekers with scholarships and wrap-around training that may help them with job-ready skills in the digital economy. The program will support qualified applicants to pursue Google Career Certificates in high demand fields like IT Support, IT Automation, Project Management, Data Analytics, UX Design and Digital Marketing & Ecommerce.
 
Google also plans to equip teachers with essential training to teach students the skills to be safe and smart online and guide them on their digital journeys with an interactive curriculum. In addition, it will collaborate with the Karnataka Fintech Task Group to educate users on the benefits of making digital payments and increase its adoption.

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