ET Startup Awards 2022: Bengaluru should have 10 decacorns next year: CM Bommai

He was speaking at the eighth edition of the ET Startup Awards in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Bengaluru has been front and centre of the country’s technology driven startup ecosystem, evident in the evolution of multi-billion dollar enterprises such as Razorpay and Flipkart. The step forward, Bommai said, would be to be the frontrunner in science and technology efforts, aim at building $10 billion valuation startups, and capture the market in areas where there has been a surge in value creation through services, such as fintech.

“I have given a target to my people (entrepreneurs and policymakers). I want Bengaluru to be No. 1 in science and technology, startups, and also become the financial capital of India,” Bommai said.
The chief minister said Bengaluru owes its growth as a centre for indigenous technology prowess to the work of scientists, engineers, and policymakers who constantly pursued innovation. Successive governments in Karnataka have also sharpened the focus on industry friendly policies and built an enabling environment for startups. However, Bommai has envisioned his government’s role to be different from those in the past: Karnataka wants to contribute $1 trillion by 2025, he said, referring to the national target to become a $5 trillion economy by 2025.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had projected, in 2019, the Indian economy reaching $5 trillion in size and becoming a major economic powerhouse globally. Bommai said his government would play an active role in developing Bengaluru’s investment climate and fostering startups to produce more unicorns and decacorns.

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Bommai had words of advice for startup founders at the event. They should scout for goodwill in the market while keeping their focus on profit, linking this to the philosophical concept of punya, meaning good deeds.

“Think of a business that will be profit-making and, at the same time, earn punya. What a value addition that would be to your profits!” Bommai told entrepreneurs.

At the same time, startups should keep honing their skills to think “out of the box.” In that spirit, Bengaluru has made a habit of creating startups, Bommai said. By their nature, startups do not have visibility into their future, given the challenging market conditions and competition in the ecosystem, but founders are problem solvers seeking adventure. “If you want to do a venture, don’t start up. It’s not a venture, but an adventure,” Bommai said.

The chief minister said he was pleased ET had chosen Bengaluru to host the annual startup awards event. Praising the newspaper for what he called its excellent coverage of news related to business and the economy, he said: “Every good businessman should read The Economic Times. Otherwise, he will miss a lot.” Those who read it may not make mistakes in their business decisions, he added.