The KLE Centre for Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship (KLE CTIE), in strategic partnership with Mundhe Banni and Avantro Labs, launched the RiNK Initiative – Rise in North Karnataka. This was launched in Hubballi on Saturday (December 22, 2025).
This transformative program reverses talent migration by facilitating tech professionals’ return from metros and enabling GCCs, startups, and enterprises to scale in North Karnataka.
Unveiled at the Mundhe Banni Startup Meetup at KLE Technological University (KLETU), Hubballi, the event drew over 230 entrepreneurs, founders, investors, and innovators from Hubballi, Dharwad, Belagavi, and beyond.
The full-day program featured a Venture Capital panel moderated by Vasant Shetty, Mundhe Banni founder, with Vinod Shankar of Java Capital and Nihal Shetty of Rainmatter by Zerodha sharing funding insights. Raffic Aslam, formerly in Zoho, gave a masterclass in brand storytelling. A question and answer session followed.
Prakash Tewari, Vice Chancellor, KLETU, welcomed guests. He spoke on Mundhe Banni’s mission to empower 100,000 Karnataka entrepreneurs and create 1 million jobs by shifting from risk aversion to awareness. He addressed North Karnataka’s connection gaps, tier-2 funding challenges, and Sankalp Semiconductor’s success, spawning 10+ VLSI firms and having 1,000 professionals in Hubballi.
“Universities must enable ambition through bridges like CTiE and Mundhe Banni,” he said. He urged students to start with what they have; entrepreneurship is courage, persistence, and community.
Mr. Shetty, the founder of Mundhe Banni, said over 230 young entrepreneurs and engineers had gathered with new ideas at the launch and that it was a promising start.
Ashok Shettar, pro-chancellor, KLETU, said the Hubballi region was poised for great technology-based industry and business ventures as it had an annual turn out of around 8,000-10,000 graduates. The Infosys centre, and other newer ventures are taking root in the city too. “I think RiNK as the seamless pathway for us all to live better and build big from namma ooru, our native place,” he said.
N. Shashi Kumar, Police Commissioner, Devaraj R, NHAI, Vinod Shankar, Co-Founder and Partner, Java Capital, Vinayak Hosamani, Director, KLE CTIE, Chethan Shettar, Founder, Avantro Labs and others were present, said a release.
Curated by Dr. Elena Rodriguez
