Karnataka, Chile Explore Deeptech, Startup Partnerships in Bengaluru

Karnataka is looking to deepen its global innovation partnerships with Chile, with both sides exploring collaboration opportunities in deeptech, clean energy, biotechnology, and startup ecosystems during a high-level meeting held in Bengaluru.

The Chilean delegation, led by Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Pérez Mackenna, met Priyank Kharge, IT-BT minister, Karnataka, as part of Chile’s broader India engagements aimed at strengthening technology and innovation partnerships.

The discussions focused on expanding cooperation across emerging technologies, startup exchanges, research partnerships, and sustainable industrial innovation under the framework of the Global Innovation Alliance (GIA).

The engagement builds on the Letter of Intent signed between Karnataka and Chile during the Bengaluru Tech Summit, which established a framework for collaboration in startups, emerging technologies, research, and skill development.

“Karnataka today is a global hub for deep-tech, AI, biotech, aerospace, and advanced research, backed by one of the strongest talent pipelines in the world,” said Priyank Kharge.

“As partners under the Global Innovation Alliance, we must move beyond agreements on paper to actionable collaboration. We are keen to work with Chile on startup exchanges, market access programmes, and building joint innovation corridors, including R&D centres, incubators, and accelerators. Chile’s position as a gateway to Latin America presents a significant opportunity for our startups to scale globally,” he added.

Mackenna said Chile sees strong opportunities to partner with Karnataka as it transitions toward a knowledge- and technology-driven economy.

“Chile is actively advancing its transition towards a knowledge- and technology-driven economy. Our engagement with Karnataka reflects our interest in building strong innovation partnerships that enable technology exchange, talent collaboration, and access to dynamic startup ecosystems,” he said.

“We see strong potential to work together across sectors such as clean energy, digital technologies, and emerging industries, while also strengthening Chile’s role as a bridge between India and Latin America,” he added.

Among the key areas discussed during the meeting were renewable energy partnerships, including green hydrogen, marine biotechnology, aquaculture technologies, and AI applications across traditional industries.

Both sides also emphasised the need to move beyond MoUs toward implementation-focused partnerships through structured startup exchange programmes, market access initiatives, and deeper ecosystem linkages under the GIA framework.

Following the meeting, the Chilean delegation visited C-CAMP to explore Karnataka’s biotechnology innovation ecosystem and understand its role in supporting startups, translational research, and life sciences innovation.