Mangaluru emerges as Karnataka’s Silicon Beach as tech ecosystem expands beyond Bengaluru
More than 600 delegates, 70 start-ups, 60 Global Capability Centres (GCCs) and over 20 investors attended Mangaluru Technovanza 2026 on Wednesday, as Karnataka sought to expand technology-led growth beyond Bengaluru.
The event, organised by the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), comes as Mangaluru’s technology ecosystem has grown to more than 300 technology companies, 400 start-ups and a workforce of over 50,000. More than 60 companies and 13,000 jobs have been added in the region over the past three years, according to the organisers.
Karnataka Minister for Home, Information Technology, Biotechnology and E-Governance Priyank Kharge said the growth of star-tups and GCCs was helping expand the state’s technology activity beyond Bengaluru.
“Mangaluru is proving that Karnataka’s next wave of technology-led growth can come from beyond Bengaluru. The city has the talent, institutions and entrepreneurial ecosystem to build a globally competitive technology cluster,” Kharge said.
He said the state would focus on attracting companies and investment to the region while supporting startups and job creation.
“This is exactly what our Beyond Bengaluru vision seeks to achieve – taking investment to where talent is and creating strong technology ecosystems across Karnataka,” Kharge said. “Mangaluru has the opportunity to establish itself as Karnataka’s Silicon Beach and as an important technology gateway to global markets.”
The event also saw the launch of the Silicon Beach Skills Report 2026, which said Mangaluru’s talent pool had grown 20% year-on-year to 55,000. The wider Silicon Beach region was reported to have 280,000 active accessible white-collar professionals.
Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, CEO of KDEM, said the state was targeting a larger technology ecosystem in the region.
“Our vision is to build a cluster with 200,000 tech jobs, 40,000 crore in tech exports, 4,000+ start-ups, 80+ GCCs and 10 Centres of Excellence, backed by a $10 billion coastal knowledge economy,” Gupta said.
The event also included the launch of K-Combinator’s first cohort, the Beyond Bengaluru Cluster Seed Fund, Silicon Beach Angels and the Karnataka Acceleration Network. The initiatives are aimed at improving start-ups’ access to capital, mentorship and markets.
B.V. Naidu, Chairman, KDEM, said the region’s technology ecosystem would require coordination between government, companies and academic institutions.
“No ecosystem builds itself on government alone, or on corporates alone, or on institutions alone — it takes all three, working in tandem,” Naidu said.
He pointed to the participation of global companies and venture capital firms, local acquisitions and greater involvement from academic institutions as indicators of the ecosystem’s development.
The organisers said Mangaluru currently has more than 60 GCCs and satellite offices, with over one million square feet of Grade-A office space under construction.