India Climate Accelerators & Incubators
The structured support behind the grants: cohorts, mentorship, market access and often a grant. Every program link and social checked live.
An accelerator pushes a working product through a fixed cohort. An incubator holds a startup longer, usually earlier. Most India climate programs bundle a non-dilutive grant with mentorship and pilot access. This page maps both, alongside the open cohorts right now and the founder communities.
Every entry is checked live: the program page resolves and the program is actively running cohorts. If it looks dormant, it is not listed.
The programs
Search by name, or filter accelerator vs incubator.
12 of 12 programs · every link verified live
NSRCEL Climate Incubation Hub (IIM Bangalore)
incubatorClimate-focused incubation by NSRCEL (IIM Bangalore's startup hub) in partnership with Hindustan Unilever, supporting startups building climate-resilient livelihoods, supply chains and communities.
Who it's for: Incorporated, tech-enabled climate ventures with a market-ready product, ~1+ year of operations and early revenue; agriculture, clean energy/cleantech, nature-based solutions, carbon markets.
Details: Free, no equity. ~6-month cohort, largely virtual + Bangalore events. 1-on-1 mentorship, climate workshops, VC connects and grants. Cohort 2 intake via NSRCEL apply form.
NSRCEL Circular Innovation Incubation Program
incubatorEarly-stage climate incubator from NSRCEL (IIM Bangalore) with the Pernod Ricard India Foundation (PRIF), helping ventures solve circular-economy, climate-smart agriculture and plastic/glass circularity challenges.
Who it's for: Incorporated LLP/Pvt Ltd ventures with a proven PoC or early revenue, 1+ year operations, scalable model in circular economy / climate-smart agriculture / plastic or glass circularity.
Details: No fees, no equity. Hybrid (mostly online) with Bangalore meetups. GTM guidance, mentorship, corporate/industry network, fundraising readiness, impact measurement. ~8-9 months.
SINE IIT Bombay
incubatorSociety for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) is IIT Bombay's technology business incubator, offering start-to-scale incubation including a greentech accelerator with IDFC FIRST Bank.
Who it's for: Early-stage deep-tech and greentech startups; the IDFC FIRST Ignite accelerator targets growth-stage (TRL 6+) in clean energy, green molecules, circular economy, climate tech, water and air quality.
Details: Up to 3 years incubation (Powai, Mumbai) + virtual. Government grants, seed and angel/VC connects. IDFC FIRST Ignite up to Rs 25 lakh per startup (2nd edition open). New Y-Point deep-tech VC fund (Rs 250 cr).
C-CAMP Bio-incubator (Bangalore)
incubatorCentre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), a Department of Biotechnology initiative, runs a plug-and-play bio-incubation facility in the Bangalore Life Science Cluster for deep-science startups.
Who it's for: Early-stage life-science, biotech, agri-biotech and med-tech startups, including climate-resilience agriculture and health ventures.
Details: 44,000 sq ft bio-incubator with labs (BSL1/BSL2, tissue culture, clean rooms). Seed funding program, mentorship and acceleration. Resident + virtual; ~200 resident incubatees, 450+ funded/mentored/incubated.
i-Hub Gujarat
incubatorGujarat's state incubator (under SSIP, Education Dept, Govt of Gujarat) offering co-working, labs and the Startup Grow incubation program, with a Climate Action track.
Who it's for: Early-stage startups and innovators across sectors including climate action; students and women entrepreneurs (WEstart).
Details: 18-month incubation (extendable 6 months). Startup Srujan seed grants Rs 2.5-10 lakh + testing/piloting grants up to Rs 10 lakh. Mentorship, co-working, IPR support. Ahmedabad. 720+ startups supported.
IITM Incubation Cell @ IIT Madras Research Park
incubatorThe nodal incubator inside India's first university research park at IIT Madras, incubating deep-tech startups across climate, energy, mobility and more.
Who it's for: Early-stage deep-tech and climate-tech startups (energy, batteries, EV, cleantech, space, semiconductors, medtech); open to founders beyond IIT Madras.
Details: Incubation space integrated with IITM research departments; mentorship, IP management, access to 200+ investors. 104 deep-tech startups incubated in 2024. Chennai.
Social Alpha — Techtonic (Sustainability & Clean Energy)
acceleratorMulti-stage deep-tech venture platform (Tata Trusts / FISE) accelerating science-led climate startups across the sustainability value chain and clean energy.
Who it's for: Science/tech-led Indian climate startups at R&D, pilot or scale-up stage in energy transition, new materials, water/air and clean energy.
Details: Non-dilutive grants: up to Rs 30L (R&D), Rs 40L (Pilot), Rs 60L (Scale-up); clean-energy edition up to Rs 10L R&D + Rs 60L scale-up + Tata Power sandbox. Edition-based calls.
Shell E4 — Smart Energy & Energy Transition
acceleratorShell's India startup accelerator (Energizing & Enabling Energy Entrepreneurs), accelerating energy, climate and sustainability startups to market readiness with Shell's network and Bengaluru R&D.
Who it's for: Post-PoC (TRL 4-7) to growth-stage startups in clean tech, energy transition, industrial decarbonisation, mobility and energy access.
Details: 3-8 month cohort (extendable to 2 years). Smart Energy Track + Energy Transition Track. Equity-free program; optional Shell Ventures convertible note ($100k-500k). Lab access, mentorship.
Villgro — Climate & Agri Incubation
incubatorIndia's oldest social-enterprise incubator (est. 2001), running climate action, climate-smart agriculture, water and waste programs, including a 12-month Climate Tech Incubator with Mercedes-Benz R&D India.
Who it's for: Early-stage Indian social enterprises in climate action, climate-smart agriculture, clean energy, water and waste.
Details: Seed funding (grant/debt/equity mix), mentorship, market access. ~12-month programs; multiple open 2026 calls (Climate-Smart Agriculture, The Water Lab, Startup India Seed Fund). Chennai.
ACT Grants — Catalyst & Momentum Grants (Environment)
acceleratorVenture-philanthropy platform backed by India's tech ecosystem, supporting early-stage climate organisations via non-dilutive Catalyst and Momentum grants.
Who it's for: Early-stage Indian orgs (startups + non-profits) in environment/climate: clean energy, green mobility, circularity, carbon removal, agriculture, water, resilience.
Details: Non-dilutive grants, no equity. Catalyst (Rs 20-50L) seeds early orgs; Momentum (up to ~Rs 1 Cr) funds scale-up. Open/rolling intake.
Climate Finance Accelerator (CFA) India
acceleratorUK-government-funded climate finance acceleration program (delivered in India by PwC India), preparing low-carbon businesses to access climate finance.
Who it's for: Revenue-generating, investment-ready climate businesses seeking USD ~5M+ in equity/debt (not grants) within 1-2 years; energy transition, EV, cooling, water, waste, agri.
Details: Non-dilutive, equity-free technical assistance. ~4 months expert support + investor pitching (India Investor & Innovation Summit, Dec 2026). First India cohort of 15 selected Mar 2026; next call early 2027.
The Climate Accelerator (Climate Collective Foundation)
acceleratorThe Climate Collective Foundation, South Asia's largest private climate-tech startup support org, runs The Climate Accelerator: non-dilutive cohorts (Climate Launch, Climate Runway) for Global South climate startups.
Who it's for: Early-stage climate-tech startups (MVP onwards) in clean energy, carbon, water, waste-to-resource; Climate Launch (early), Climate Runway (post-revenue).
Details: Completely non-dilutive: no fees, no equity. Climate Launch ~3-4 months (virtual, IST). 2,000+ startups supported; portfolio raised USD 683M.