The flagship annual tech event of the Silicon Valley of the East concluded on Friday, logging 3.16 virtual visitors and a footfall of 50,000 expo visitors over its three-day run.
Addressing the media, on Friday, Karnataka’s IT, BT and S&T minister Priyank Kharge, pointed out that the Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS) 2023 saw participation by 553 exhibitors, out of which 228 were startups. In all 83 sessions with 401 speakers via 5 tracks, graced by by 4,773 registered delegates, 18,592 registered business visitors and 8,606 attendees.
The tracks encompassed startups, biotech, deeptech and 2 global innovation alliance tracks with participants from 20 countries including Australia, Denmark, South Korea, Japan, NRW City of Dusseldorf, Thailand, British Deputy High Commission, Finland, Israel, and Russia and 115 speakers.
“We discussed collaboration and establishment of sector specific corridors to catapult our innovation ecosystems. These corridors would help facilitate startup exchange, knowledge sharing and skilling and market access opportunities,” Kharge said. Overall, the summit saw participation from 45 countries.
During the summit, the Government of Karnataka (GoK) signed three MoUs with ecosystem partners. The US-India Business Council and the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS), Gok signed an MoU to bolster collaboration and communication channels. An MoU with Swissnex was also signed to onboard Gok on the Indo Swiss Innovation Platform that aligns the country in 3 focus areas – health, sustainability and digital transformation. Lastly, an MoU was signed between Opportunities New Brunswick (ONB) and the Association of Biotechnology LED Enterprises (ABLE) which is aimed towards fostering technology and technology based foreign direct investment.
GoK also launched some 37 products from early stage startups that encompassed a wide array of tech solutions in domains ranging from IT and deep tech to cyber security, gaming and healthcare, among many others.
Focus on gaming
The IT & BT Ministry, which organises the event each year, used the summit as a platform to launch draft policies for animation, visual effects, gaming and comics (AVGC) and biotech.
On the last day of the summit, the state government and online gaming platform Games 24x7 jointly launched GameTech Accelerate - The Future of Gaming', a gaming accelerator that will be used to foster innovation. Through the accelerator, Games24x7 will help identify and mentor ventures offering innovative solutions and connect them to investors who are keen to back the sector.
The accelerator will target four key areas, namely new games, real-time analytics, telemetry & personalisation, security and anti-cheating measures and community and social integration, and a shortlist for the same will be revealed during the gaming, animation and VFX (GAFX) event schedules for January 29 next year, which is also when the final AVGC policy will be revealed.
During the launch, Kharge expressed an intent to turn Karnataka into a leader in gaming through concentration on skilling, incubators and accelerators, consistent and quality global IP production and research and development. The AVGC sector, which is currently thought to be worth $4 billion in India, can double in the next 2.5 years, he added.
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