Karnataka polls: Startup founders, VCs vote in Bengaluru for better infra and R&D

Hari Menon, founder and chief executive of egrocer BigBasket, told ET he went straight to the polling booth from the airport after arriving in the city. He said traffic and overall cleanliness are the two major issues the city is facing.

“We need a much cleaner Bengaluru. You see post construction debris just thrown around everywhere. It just takes a little bit of effort to clear up the place after completion of work. We need a strong push from the government and a good infrastructure policy,” he added.

Cloud kitchen startup CureFoods’ founder Ankit Nagori said he hadn’t seen such a buzz on social media after any state’s election. “Given that Bangalore is the tech hub, a lot of opinion makers are on social media and hence there is a lot of chatter.”

Startup promoters and investors also participated in the voting process. Venture-builder platform GrowthStory’s founder K Ganesh cast his vote in Indiranagar along with his 88-year old mother. “Participating in decision making that impacts our lives and impacts our fellow citizens, is an important role that you need to play. It’s not only right, but it’s also a responsibility,” he told ET.

The serial entrepreneur who has promoted startups like Portea Medical, Bluestone and Homelane said that he would want the government to focus a lot on research and development. “The government should set up centres of excellence, bring industry, research and academia together to be able to move like Israel in areas of cybersecurity, among others,” he added.

Discover the stories of your interest

Early-stage investment fund Stellaris Venture’s partner Ritesh Banglani said it is especially important that “tech immigrants” in Bengaluru participate in the governance of the city and state in order to fully integrate into the fabric of its society. “Since voter registration has been online for several years now, there’s no excuse to not sign up to vote in Bangalore,” he said.

Banglani added while governments have traditionally been industry-friendly, more needs to be done to transform the state into a manufacturing powerhouse. “If our government provides a set of clear and consistent rules and a level playing field, Karnataka’s entrepreneurs can create millions of jobs and generate billions in tax revenue for the state.”

Opinion was divided on whether these polls were a precursor to the upcoming 2024 general elections. Nagori said state elections cannot be independent of central elections. On the other hand, Menon said state and national politics involve very different agendas. “You will always find that even if a party loses a state, the same party wins handsomely in national elections,” he added.

TV Mohandas Pai, chairman at Aarin Capital Partners, said he would expect the new regime to solve Bengaluru’s mobility issues, add 10,000 EV buses and build a 250-km network of metro, give good footpaths and create a Rs 5,000-crore fund for startups and a Rs 1,000-crore fund for research.

Bengaluru remains the largest unicorn hub in India. According to a report by venture fund Orios Venture Partners, Bangalore has the highest number of unicorns in any single Indian city at 43. It added 18 unicorns in 2021 while 8 more were added last year.