Startup grants & funding schemes in India

WE-Escalate is a six-month acceleration program launched by Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre with the objective of empowering women-led startups in the life sciences ecosystem of Karnataka. The program is designed to help women innovators validate their technologies, accelerate product development, and enable faster deployment of solutions into real-world markets. The initiative focuses on nurturing early-stage women entrepreneurs while also supporting growth-stage startups to scale their

Titan Capital is actively partnering with early-stage founders building differentiated and high-conviction businesses. The firm focuses on backing startups at the pre-seed and seed stages with a long-term perspective rather than short-term hype cycles. Titan Capital follows a hands-on, founder-first approach by moving quickly on decisions and supporting portfolio companies with not just capital but also deep strategic insight. Founders benefit from access to an operator-led network of

The Avaana , Startup India Grand Challenge for Deep Tech Innovation 2025, 26 is a nationwide flagship initiative designed to identify and empower breakthrough deep-tech innovators building solutions for India's most critical strategic priorities. Now in its third edition, the Grand Challenge has emerged as one of India's leading platforms for frontier technology startups, backed by policymakers, industry leaders, academia, and capital providers. The program enables startups to accelerate

ELEVATE NXT 2026 is a flagship Deeptech-focused grant-in-aid program by the Government of Karnataka under the LEAP framework. The program is designed to identify, support, and scale high-potential Deeptech startups through a transparent and milestone-driven funding process. The initiative targets startups developing novel, science- and engineering-led solutions using advanced technologies such as AI, ML, IoT, Blockchain, Robotics, AR/VR, Drones, Advanced Manufacturing, Semiconductors, Quantum

Innovate with SSDI is a collaboration-driven opportunity hosted by Incubation Centre IIT Patna in partnership with Sharp Software Development India Pvt Ltd (SSDI), the Indian R&D arm of Sharp Corporation, Japan. The program invites innovative startups to co-develop next-generation solutions that power global products, platforms, and enterprise services. The initiative focuses on resilient, sustainable, and scalable technology solutions with clear differentiation, especially those targeting

IIMK LIVE Seed Support Fund is a startup seed funding program sanctioned by the Department of Science and Technology under the NIDHI, Seed Support System scheme. The program is designed to support early-stage startups incubated at IIMK LIVE, a Technology Business Incubator hosted by IIM Kozhikode. The fund aims to bridge the gap between development and commercialization of innovative technologies, products, and services by providing timely financial support along with mentorship and ecosystem

The BIRAC LEAP (Launching Entrepreneurial Driven Affordable Products) Fund at Venture Center is designed to catalyse promising, innovation-led startups and accelerate their journey from lab to market. Hosted by the Entrepreneurship Development Center (Venture Center) under the BIRAC LEAP scheme, the fund aims to support startups in piloting, validation, and commercialization of new and meritorious technologies. The program provides capital assistance of up to Rs. 100 lakh per startup to

HP Udgam Cohort 2025 , Round II is part of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited's flagship Startup Support Initiative aimed at fostering innovation and collaboration with early-stage startups. The program focuses on startups that demonstrate strong synergy with the Oil & Gas industry and emerging areas of energy transition and digital innovation. HPCL supports startups working on renewable energy, biofuels, e-mobility, energy storage, LNG, CGD, CBG, sustainability, and digital solutions

Arabian Accelerator is a cross-border startup acceleration initiative powered by India Accelerator in partnership with the National Technology Development Program (NTDP) of Saudi Arabia. The program is designed to help Indian startups expand into the Saudi Arabian market by providing structured market access, capital support, and ecosystem integration. The initiative focuses on startups operating in Artificial Intelligence, Sustainability, Electric Mobility, PropTech, and DeepTech sectors

Up to Rs. 10 lakhs for women-led startups from Tier 2/3 India.

This programme supports early-stage defence and deep-tech startups to accelerate their growth, provide critical seed funding, and enhance India's defence innovation ecosystem. It is implemented by the Technology Innovation and Development of Entrepreneurship Society (TIDES) at IIT Roorkee in collaboration with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). The programme focuses on startups that are supported by iDEX and/or recognised by DPIIT and encourages ventures to leverage

Zero-equity fintech accelerator for MVP-stage startups raising Seed, Series A.