Country's first dedicated SBI branch for startups to come up at Koramangala

Bengaluru: Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) and State Bank of India, on Friday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which enables SBI to open its country's first dedicated branch for Startups (SBI Startup Hub branch) in Koramangala. As expected, this branch will be launched in August.

The MoU was exchanged in the presence of Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, Minister for IT/BT, after Sanjeev Gupta, CEO, KDEM, and S.Radhakrishnan, GM, Bengaluru, Circle signed the pact.

Speaking on the occasion, Ashwath Narayan said the MoU would boost the prevailing startup ecosystem in the state. Further, he stated, that SBI would start such branches at Mysuru, Mangaluru, and Hubballi-Dharawada clusters in the next 6 months.

As per this MoU, SBI will work towards creating an enabling mechanism for startups recognised by the Government of Karnataka and supported by KDEM for availing time-bound credit based on the purchase order, the minister explained.

The KDEM will be establishing Fin-tech Innovation Hub at Mangaluru focusing on the Fin-tech area and SBI agrees to be one of the partner organisations for the planned innovation hub sharing knowledge and providing financial support. Narayan expressed the confidence that the collaboration between KDEM and SBI would benefit startups by enabling access to banking facilities including focused services like access to funds, credit facilities, etc.

The State government has envisaged helping startups by making use of the Union Government's CGTMSE scheme to provide loans of up to 2 crores for micro and small enterprises. he stated.

"Karnataka has more than 13,000 startups and some of them are facing a paucity of funds. The MoU between KDEM and SBI would help to address this by facilitating access to credits. It also facilitates, exploring options to extend CGTSME (Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises) loans to "Elevate" winners.Speaking on the occasion, Rana Ashutosh Singh, Deputy Managing Director (Transaction Banking and New Initiatives), stated that the initiatives of the state government have prompted SBI to go ahead with the launch of a dedicated branch to provide cluster seed fund, the first time in the country.