E-Step launched by Karnataka to empower student start-ups

The Department of IT, BT and S&T in Karnataka has launched the E-Step, an initiative to empower student start-ups. E-Step focuses on boot camps, mentoring and training programmes which cover various aspects of entrepreneurship. E-Step, an initiative from Start-up Cell, is a specially crafted for students/start-ups/entrepreneurs to understand the basics of entrepreneurship from experienced trainers.

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In the first phase, a day-long boot camp across New Age Incubation Networks (NAIN) will be organised. Boot camps will be held at 30 colleges between August 12 and September 14 in Mandya, Chikkaballapura,Tumakuru, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Davanagere, Ballari, Dharwad, Belagavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Kalaburgi and Bidar.

“The Karnataka government is keen to instil the spirit of entrepreneurship and E-Step is one such initiative where we identify and groom young talent. We have received an overwhelming response to boot camps across the State with over 400 registrations per day. Till now, 2,499 students between the age group of 18 and 26 have registered, and almost 50 per cent off them are female participants. E-Step helps in lateral and inclusive growth and further enhances our outreach to tier-II and tier-III cities. Our aim is to leverage the talent pool in the State to augment Karnataka’s position as the Start-up Capital of India,” said EV Ramana Reddy, Karnataka’s Additional Chief Secretary.

The boot camp gives participants an overview of the current start-up system. It also acts as a platform for ideation where teams will work on various ideas based on problems, solutions, competitors and customer.

They will also work on product design and marketing. There will also be a session on product development, sales and customer engagement, business model and creation of a pitch deck. The boot camp also includes a mock pitch session and a mentor talk.