Google has now partnered with the state government to support emerging local start-ups and create opportunities through digital skilling, providing yet another boost to start-ups in Karnataka. Google has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Karnataka to support the state’s vision of promoting innovation and fostering the growth of start-ups. The Indian start-up ecosystem is the world’s third largest, with Karnataka serving as the country’s start-up hub.

“Karnataka has been at the forefront of the startup revolution,” said C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister for Higher Education, IT, BT, Science and Technology, and Skill Development for the Government of Karnataka. We want to create a collaborative and inclusive digital environment for startups to grow and thrive in the future. I am confident that this collaboration will also benefit many of our Beyond Bengaluru entrepreneurs and innovators from the emerging tech clusters.”

“India’s start-up community is thriving, but not all founders have equal access to capital, support networks, or mentorship.” These are critical resources that can assist the start-up ecosystem in its continuous learning, innovation, and evolution. “We want to strengthen support for the local start-up ecosystem, enable equal representation for women, and level the playing field across the State through our collaboration with KITS,” said Karthik Padmanabhan, Developer Relations Lead, Google India.

Also Read | Google collaborates with the government of Assam to promote digital-led learning

Under the terms of the agreement, Google will collaborate with the Karnataka government in a variety of areas, including providing essential training and mentorship programs to non-metropolitan start-ups, Google Career Certificates scholarships to prepare candidates for jobs with digital skills, and online safety and digital citizenship programs for school children.

Knowledge sessions
Google intends to assist start-ups in the state’s metro and non-metro cities in innovating and scaling their businesses by sharing expertise on growing successful organizations and implementing strong tech architectures, methodology, and business practices in administration. A series of knowledge sessions will also be organized under the Android and Cloud Series to assist with growth, monetisation, and tech skills.

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

Google Career Certificates scholarships for youth
Google will work with KITS to provide scholarships and wrap-around training to underserved youth and job seekers in order to help them gain job-ready skills in the digital economy. The program will assist qualified candidates in obtaining Google Career Certificates in high-demand fields such as IT Support, IT Automation, Project Management, Data Analytics, UX Design, Digital Marketing, and eCommerce.

Google also intends to provide teachers with the necessary training in order to teach students how to be safe and smart online, as well as to guide them on their digital journeys through an interactive curriculum. Furthermore, it will work with the Karnataka Fintech Task Group to educate users on the benefits of digital payments and increase their adoption.