Karnataka govt inks MoU with Jupiter Meta for research initiative to strengthen start up ecosystem

Karnataka government on Saturday signed an MoU with Jupiter Meta, a data and insights-led firm, to undertake a ''comprehensive, privacy-first primary research initiative aimed at strengthening and future-proofing'' the State's start up ecosystem. According to an official statement, Under this pro bono engagement, Jupiter Meta will conduct an in-depth, data-driven study covering 2,000 stakeholders, including startup founders, venture capitalists, and students, to generate actionable insights on founder needs, ecosystem gaps, program effectiveness, and emerging opportunities across Karnataka--particularly in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Speaking on the occasion, IT Minister Priyank Kharge said that Karnataka's leadership as India's start up capital must be reinforced through continuous, evidence-based policymaking. ''This collaboration with Jupiter Meta will help us better understand founder needs across states and regions, including beyond Bengaluru, benchmark ourselves against other leading ecosystems, and strengthen initiatives such as the Karnataka Booster Kit to support the next wave of start up clusters across the State,'' he said. The study will benchmark Karnataka's start up ecosystem against other leading start up hubs and assess the effectiveness of government programs in comparison with private accelerator initiatives and peer-state effort, the statement added.