Startup Spotlights

In a move that cements its preeminent status as India’s innovation nucleus, the Karnataka government has unveiled a visionary roadmap for the future of its startup ecosystem. The Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-2030, approved by the state cabinet on November 6, 2025, with a substantial outlay of ₹518.27 crore, is not merely an update—it is a bold declaration of intent. The policy sets an ambitious target of fostering 25,000 new startups over the next five years, with a crucial mandate to ensure that 10,000 of these ventures are born beyond the boundaries of Bengaluru.

Bengaluru, long celebrated as India’s undisputed startup capital, is set to receive a powerful new engine for innovation. On November 7, 2025, the city will witness the grand inauguration of Startup Park, a pioneering ₹600 crore initiative by iQUE Ventures. This isn’t just another co-working space or incubator; it is envisioned as India’s first truly integrated innovation hub, designed to fuse every critical element of a startup’s journey under one monumental roof.

In a monumental stride towards democratizing entrepreneurship in India, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has officially launched ‘Startups for All’, a revolutionary digital platform poised to become the definitive compass for navigating the nation’s booming startup landscape. Unveiled on November 4, 2025, by Tamil Nadu’s IT Minister, Dr. Palanivel Thiagarajan, at the TN Global Startup Summit, this initiative from IIT Madras’s Centre for Research on Startups and Risk Financing (CREST) aims to shatter the information barriers that have long hindered innovators outside of major metropolitan hubs.

In a landmark deal that bridges robotics, audio content, and artificial intelligence, Mumbai-based Miko has orchestrated a powerful strategic leap. The edtech robotics trailblazer has secured a whopping $10.5 million (approximately ₹93.5 crore) in funding from American broadcasting behemoth iHeartMedia. This isn’t just a financial transaction; it’s a fusion of technological prowess and content empire, designed to embed iHeartMedia’s vast audio library directly into Miko’s emotionally intelligent companion robots.

The rules of the startup game are being rewritten, and Google is ensuring that Indian entrepreneurs are not just players but the new rule-makers. In a significant move to supercharge the nation’s AI-first startup wave, Google for Startups India has launched the Startup School: Prompt to Prototype—an intensive, two-week virtual program designed to equip founders with the skills to transform a spark of an idea into a functional, launch-ready AI prototype.