Bengaluru to get India's first startup, tech museum by 2027

Bengaluru: Bengaluru is set to house India’s first startup and tech museum by 2027. 

Spread across 12,000 sqm within the repurposed Switch Gear factory shed on the NGEF campus in Baiyappanahalli, the museum is being developed as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the Department of Electronics, IT&BT and S&T, and UnboxingBLR.

It will be developed under the Karnataka Technology and Innovation Museum Foundation (KTIMF). 

The museum space will be developed in two phases. The first phase is set to go live in 2027, said Prashanth Prakash, co-founder and chairperson of UnboxingBLR, with the second phase expected to take off a year later. 

The museum aims to highlight India’s history of innovation, science and technology, with Bengaluru at the centre of it all, said Prakash. 

“I believe that a lot of economic contributions have materially changed the trajectory of our country in the last 25 years has been tech-led and digital, and central to that are also the entrepreneurial contributions of Bengaluru. We’ll be chronicling the last four to five decades of technological advancements. There is no better place than Bengaluru to showcase that,” he told DH. 

In addition to what has transpired, the museum will also provide perspective and insights into what the future holds. A global Request for Proposal (RFP) for the museum’s design is expected to go out in the next 30 days. An approximate budget of Rs 100 crore has been allocated to design and build the museum, which has been in the talks for the past three years. 

“We’re calling on startups and companies from across the country who’d like to be a part of the museum. Leaning heavily on the latest technology, it is going to be an interactive space, so there’s lots of room for experimentation,” added Prakash. 

A board of industry leaders has been set up to aid the launch of the museum.

The board will be chaired by Prakash, and it consists of Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Infosys cofounder Kris Gopalakrishnan, Managing Director and CEO of Bangalore International Airport Limited Hari Marar, Ajit Abraham Isaac of Quess Corp, Manu Ramchandra Saale of Mercedes-Benz R&D, Vijay Chandru of Strand Life Sciences, and Krishnakumar Natarajan of Mindtree.

The government officials, such as IT&BT secretary Manjula N and IAS Rahul Sharanappa Sankaur, will also be involved in the development of the interactive space. 

The museum will be situated near Innoverse, a state government-backed deep-tech incubator initiative. About 11,000 sqm have been allocated for the Innoverse project.