Karnataka Shortlists 256 Deeptech Startups for ELEVATE NxT Finale
The program received 983 applications from across India and will offer selected startups grants of up to $100,000.
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Image Credit- Chetan Jha/ MIT Sloan Management Review India
The Karnataka government has shortlisted 256 deeptech startups as finalists under ELEVATE NxT 2026, its flagship grant program for science and engineering-led ventures, after receiving 983 applications from across India.
The Department of Electronics, Information Technology and Biotechnology concluded the 2026 edition of the program in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The finalists were selected after a multi-stage evaluation process that first narrowed the field to 661 startups for in-person pitching sessions.
Selected startups will be eligible for grant-in-aid support of up to Rs1 crore (about $100,000 today) each, along with milestone-based funding, domain-specific mentorship and ecosystem support.
“From evaluating 983 startups to hosting 256 finalists at the grand finale, we completed the entire process in a record 60 days. This reflects Karnataka’s unmatched innovation ecosystem and our commitment to enabling cutting-edge entrepreneurship,” IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge said.
ELEVATE NxT is being run under the Local Economy Accelerator Program, or LEAP. It builds on Karnataka’s long-running ELEVATE program, which has supported early-stage startups in the state for nearly a decade.
The new version has a wider mandate. Unlike earlier ELEVATE tracks, ELEVATE NxT invited applications from deeptech startups across India. Startups registered outside Karnataka that are declared winners will have to shift their registered office to Karnataka within four months of the result announcement.
The program targets startups working on advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, quantum technologies, space technology, healthtech, cleantech, mobility, cybersecurity, robotics, drones, semiconductors, advanced materials, biotechnology and industrial automation.
The government’s eligibility framework says applicants must be independent entities, have turnover of not more than Rs300 crore in any fiscal year since incorporation, and be within 20 years of incorporation. Startups must also show a technology readiness level between 3 and 8, meaning they should have moved beyond early concept stage but need not yet be fully commercial.
“For close to a decade, Elevate has empowered Karnataka’s early-stage startups by providing grant-in-aid support and the right ecosystem to scale bold ideas,” Kharge said. “It was incredible to witness innovators tackling some of the most complex challenges across frontier technologies, including AI/ML, quantum, space, healthtech, cleantech and mobility.”
The state had launched ELEVATE NxT in January with a Rs150 crore corpus. At the same Bengaluru event, it also unveiled the Karnataka Startup Policy 2025–2030 and recognized 146 startups selected under ELEVATE 2025.
Under ELEVATE 2025, the government had announced a total grant commitment of Rs38.85 crore for 103 ELEVATE winners, 33 ELEVATE Unnati startups and 10 ELEVATE Minorities startups. Of the selected startups, 43% were women-led and 43% were based outside Bengaluru.
Karnataka has positioned the program as part of a wider push to deepen its startup base beyond software services and Bengaluru’s traditional technology economy. The final winners of ELEVATE NxT will be selected from the 256 finalists.
