Your path to free capital

Grants, pitch competitions, innovation challenges, incubators and accelerators for founders in India — students and startups. Every listing offers ₹50,000+ or real support.

35 open · 27 equity-free · 25 open to students

35open right now 27equity-free 10closing this week 25open to students

Early preview. Listings come from Unstop and from official programme pages, filtered by our rules, but nobody has checked them by hand yet. Confirm the details on the source before you apply.

Competitions to enter and programmes to join

Sector

Showing 6 opportunities that match

Closing in 8–14 days (1)

Government First Initiative (Karnataka paid pilots for startups)
by Startup Karnataka / KITS, Government of Karnataka · Government
AcceleratorStartupsAI & MLSaaS & enterprise
Closes in 11 days23 Oct
Funding & benefits
Up to ₹25L support
+ AccelerationGovernment of Karnataka acts as first customer: direct work order of up to ₹25L (subject to technical evaluation) to pilot a solution against a published government problem statement (current statements from BWSSB and Praja Seva). This is a paid pilot, not a grant.
Not yet checked by us · confirm on source · via eitbt.karnataka.gov.in · How we check
Apply on eitbt.karnataka.gov.in for Government First Initiative (Karnataka paid pilots for startups) (opens eitbt.karnataka.gov.in in a new tab)

Closing later (1)

Y Combinator
by Y Combinator · Accelerator / investor
AcceleratorOpen to anyoneAny sector
Closes in 21 days2 Nov
Funding & benefits
Up to ₹4.2Cr investment
+ Acceleration+ Mentorship+ CreditsTakes equity — not free capitalStandard deal: USD 500,000 total (USD 125k post-money SAFE for a fixed 7% plus USD 375k uncapped MFN SAFE); no fees; page cites USD 12M+ in partner credits and deals. INR figure converted at 1 USD = ₹84. Takes equity.
Not yet checked by us · confirm on source · via ycombinator.com · How we check
Apply on ycombinator.com for Y Combinator (opens ycombinator.com in a new tab)

Open now — no closing date published (4)

Surge by Peak XV
by Peak XV Partners · Accelerator / investor
AcceleratorStartupsAny sector
Open now — no closing date
Funding & benefits
Up to ₹42Cr investment
+ Acceleration+ MentorshipTakes equity — not free capitalUSD 500k to USD 5M seed capital from Peak XV (open to co-investors), plus operator support in hiring, product, policy, PR, engineering, GTM and global expansion. INR converted at 1 USD = ₹84. Takes equity (terms not stated on page).
Not yet checked by us · confirm on source · via surge.peakxv.com · How we check
Apply on surge.peakxv.com for Surge by Peak XV (opens surge.peakxv.com in a new tab)
NSRCEL Circular Bharat Accelerator
by NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore · Accelerator / investor
AcceleratorStartupsClimate & energy
Open now — no closing date
Funding & benefits
Grant support
+ Acceleration+ MentorshipFree, no equity taken; milestone-based grants for select pilot-ready startups (amount not stated), 1-on-1 mentoring, GTM and pilot-readiness support, corporate/policy roundtables, VC connects.
Not yet checked by us · confirm on source · via nsrcel.org · How we check
Apply on nsrcel.org for NSRCEL Circular Bharat Accelerator (opens nsrcel.org in a new tab)
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JioGenNext Market Access Program (MAP)
by Reliance Industries (JioGenNext) · Corporate
AcceleratorStartupsSaaS & enterpriseAI & ML
Open now — no closing date
Funding & benefits
Mentorship support
+ AccelerationEquity-free, zero-fee corporate open-innovation programme: proof-of-concept pilots with Reliance/Jio business units, pitch and value-proposition advice, mentor access. Does not invest or provide funding.
Not yet checked by us · confirm on source · via jiogennext.com · How we check
Apply on jiogennext.com for JioGenNext Market Access Program (MAP) (opens jiogennext.com in a new tab)
Kotak BizLabs Accelerator Programme
by Kotak Mahindra Bank (CSR) with IIM Calcutta Innovation Park · Accelerator / investor
AcceleratorStartupsAgri & foodClimate & energy
Open now — no closing date
Funding & benefits
Up to ₹30L support
+ Grant+ Acceleration+ MentorshipGrant (not equity) of up to INR 30 lakh per startup, subject to due diligence and milestones, with initial disbursement plus performance-linked top-up; bootcamps and 150+ mentoring hours for a cohort of 20.
Not yet checked by us · confirm on source · via iimcip.org · How we check
Apply on iimcip.org for Kotak BizLabs Accelerator Programme (opens iimcip.org in a new tab)

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