To promote Agri-Startups in the state, the Government of Karnataka has allocated five acres of land for the establishment of the C-CAMP Agri Innovation Park at the Gandhi Krishi Vigyana Kendra (GKVK), one of the campus and administrative headquarters of UAS (University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore) campus. This will provide critical growth space to startups for scaling operations. This was disclosed at ‘Conversation with the Chief Minister of Karnataka – the Action Taken Report 2025’ released today.

It may be recalled that to support the growing startup ecosystem in agriculture space, the biotech industry requested the chief minister of the state Siddaramaiah during ‘Conversation with Chief Minister’ – CEO Breakfast Meet’ held last August to increase incubation space at the C-CAMP Innovation Park to accommodate more startups and foster innovation. They also emphasized revitalizing the agriculture sector by promoting value addition through secondary agriculture support and suggested integrating AI, ML, and robotics into agricultural curricula to advance AgriTech innovation.

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), an initiative supported by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India in partnership with state government has launched Karnataka Startup Advancement Programme (K-SAP) Phase 2, to support 85 early and mid-stage biotech startups over five years with a budget of Rs 6.524 crore. The programme offers structured mentorship, knowledge sharing, and networking to accelerate startup growth in sectors like agriculture, environment, and Healthtech.

Besides, Bengaluru Bio Innovation Centre (BBC), a state government initiative aimed at nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship within the biotechnology sector is setting up an Agri innovation centre in Bengaluru with an outlay of Rs 67.5 crore, also, a biotech incubator in Bagalkot and biotech incubator plus accelerator in Bellary with an outlay of Rs 50 crore will be set up.

The report from the government further noted that an Agri-Tech Accelerator is being setup in Kalaburgi, focusing on agriculture tailored to the region’s specific terrain and challenges. An Agri Innovation Sandbox is currently under deliberation in partnership with The Agri Collaboratory and with potential funding support from the World Bank.

The Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB), a unique initiative from the government of Karnataka that has an interdisciplinary strategy of education, research and entreprenuership is working on integrating AI, ML, and robotics into agricultural curricula and research to promote next-generation AgriTech solutions. IBAB also supports interdisciplinary research and skill development in areas such as precision farming, crop improvement, and digital agriculture.