Women in tech meet discusses operational hurdles in entrepreneurship

Dignitaries and participants at an interactive session for women entrepreneurs, in Bengaluru on Thursday.

The Department of Electronics, IT & Biotechnology hosted an interactive session with women entrepreneurs in Bengaluru on Thursday to address operational hurdles and align State policies with industry needs.

Organised ahead of the 29th Bengaluru Tech Summit, scheduled for November 17 to 19, the event was themed ‘Enabling Women in Tech in Karnataka: From Policy Intent to Action’.

The discussion was led by N. Manjula, Secretary, Department of Electronics, IT & Biotechnology, alongside Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, CEO, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM).

During the open interaction, entrepreneurs raised key concerns affecting their ability to build and scale businesses. These included securing early-stage capital for DeepTech and biotechnology ventures, accessing affordable computing power for artificial intelligence firms, expanding market reach, and navigating government procurement processes.

Responding to the feedback, Ms. Manjula emphasised the need to evaluate on-ground policy execution. She said the feedback shared, particularly on access to funding, markets and infrastructure, would help the government to take these conversations forward and work towards more actionable solutions.

Karnataka currently hosts approximately 8,000 women-led start-ups. Officials highlighted existing State initiatives, including Women@Work, WEscalate, BioWise, and ELEVATE Shakti, which have committed ₹118.98 crore to over 400 women-led ventures since 2017, including ₹23.19 crore for 63 start-ups in 2026.

To address the specific challenges, the department agreed to explore subsidised AI computing access through the proposed AI Hub and shared facilities for hardware and robotics start-ups.

Ms. Manjula also encouraged founders to utilise the ‘Government First’ initiative, which provides up to ₹25 lakh in pilot support for validating solutions within State departments.

Panellists further underscored the importance of expanding mentorship, industry partnerships, and regional incubators to support entrepreneurs operating outside Bengaluru.