India’s climate tech startups have raised about $12.8 billion since 2008. Annual funding has increased from around $315m in 2020 to $2.6bn in 2025.
That sounds like a market with plenty of money. For most founders, it isn’t.
The Capital is focusing on larger rounds, mostly in electric mobility, renewables and energy transition infrastructure. A 2024 IIMA Ventures and MUFG report on 800+ climate tech startups found that only 2.5% of them had raised a Series A or later round. Seed money is available, but the gap is what comes after seed.
If you’re building a climate or sustainability business, accelerators, grants, and government schemes can actually do something for you. They fund the pilot that gets the Series A investor to take your numbers seriously.
Here are the programmes worth shortlisting, who each one suits and what the funders will expect from you. Cohorts and deadlines are always changing, so treat each programme’s own page as the definitive source and this as just the guide.
Work out what you’re short of first.
Programs sell themselves on the mentorship. Put that aside and ask what’s missing in your next 12 months.
Cash to build a prototype? Look at the grants and seed schemes.
A pilot customer or a corporate partner? You need a programme with industry links.
Investor introductions? Then the accelerator’s network is far more important than its brand.
Equity is the next one. Some programmes take a stake, some give grants, and some lend. It’s very easy and very expensive to mix those up.
A hardware or materials startup often needs a pilot before it has any revenue, so you’ll get turned down pretty quickly by a programme designed for revenue-generating businesses. A software startup measuring emissions for businesses could demonstrate traction much earlier. Choose programmes designed for where you are today.
Programs built for climate founders
Climate Collective
A not-for-profit that calls itself India’s largest climate tech ecosystem orchestrator. They have a Climate Accelerator that works with MVP-stage startups and a pre-Series A investment platform for the next stage.
In a Nov 2025 interview with Energetica India, founding partner Nalin Agarwal stated that Climate Collective has backed 1,270 climate tech startups, a subset of which have raised a total of $235m. That’s self-reported, so it’s a measure of reach rather than a measure of success.
It’s for founders with a working MVP who need structure and a network more than a cheque.
Bharat ClimateTech Initiative (IIMA Ventures and MUFG)
IIMA Ventures and MUFG are backing up to eight early-stage climate and sustainability startups with up to Rs. 40 Lakh each and business support. You must be registered and operating in India, and the application will ask about your solution and its potential climate impact.
Intake has run as a call (the 2025 call closed on 26 June), so watch for the next window. One third-party listing refers to it as a paid programme, so please confirm the terms directly with IIMA Ventures before you plan around it.
Climate Finance Accelerator India (UK Government)
This is for later-stage companies and provides up to four months of expert support on capital raising and investment-grade documentation.
Applicants must be revenue-generating climate businesses or projects that have passed feasibility and are seeking investment rather than grants. The 2026 cohort was focused on energy transition, electric mobility and sustainable cooling. You must also demonstrate measurable emissions reductions. The 2026 deadline was 15th March, so check whether the next call is open.
Pre-revenue? Skip that for now.
Remove India
If you’re in the business of carbon removal, then this is quite distinctive. Remove positions itself as the first accelerator exclusively focused on carbon dioxide removal, and the India programme runs for 8 months in two phases.
Stage one (Foundations) is a 10-week sprint on the Indian carbon removal landscape (carbon markets, policy, MRV, business models, etc.). The 2026 window closed on 23 August, and it was the third India cohort.
MRV is the thing to watch. Carbon removal buyers are paying for proof. A programme that teaches you how to generate that proof early on is very valuable.
SAMRIDH Impact Accelerator
Healthtech and climate tech startups at TRL 4 or above (up to ₹1 crore in grant, debt or equity) are the focus. The 2026 call closed on 23 May. Worth watching if you have a tested prototype but no revenue to date.
Rainmatter – two doors, different rules
Zerodha’s Rainmatter runs two arms. Rainmatter Capital is the venture arm. A Mint report counted 43 climate-tech investments (totalling ₹350 cr) since 2016, and they describe their capital as patient capital with no fixed exit.
Rainmatter Foundation is a non-profit. It makes grants and takes no equity. It primarily funds non-profits, civil society organisations and research rather than for-profit startups.
If you’re running a for-profit company, then Capital is your doorway. Worth knowing before you spend a month on the wrong pitch.
Quick comparison
| Program | Best stage | What you get |
| Climate Collective Climate Accelerator | MVP | Accelerator, network, investor access |
| Bharat ClimateTech Initiative | Early stage | Up to ₹40 lakh plus business support |
| Climate Finance Accelerator India | Revenue-generating | Investment-readiness support |
| Remove India | Early-stage carbon removal | Eight-month accelerator |
| SAMRIDH | Tested prototype (TRL 4+) | Up to ₹1 crore as grant, debt or equity |
| Rainmatter Capital | Early stage | Equity, patient capital |
Government seed money is useful, but you have to read the debt clause.
The Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) isn’t climate-specific, so you’re in the general pool. The funds are real, though. DPIIT launched it in April 2021 with a corpus of ₹945 crore.
It provides up to ₹20 lakh as a grant for proof of concept, prototypes and product trials. For market entry and scaling, it offers up to ₹50 lakh as convertible debentures or debt-linked instruments.
Read that second number again. It’s not a grant.
You can’t apply directly to the government. You apply through DPIIT-approved incubators (you can apply to up to three at a time). You need DPIIT recognition, and your startup must be no more than 2 years old at the time of application. The grant is paid out in tranches against milestones that you agree with the incubator.
NABARD have also announced plans for ₹1300cr in new funds for agritech and climate tech startups in 2026 for early-stage innovation. Check availability prior to building a plan around it.
If you’re building hardware or materials
Long build cycles are the hard part of climate hardware. Very few general programmes really understand them.
SOSV’s Deep Tech Accelerator is another option outside of India. It’s expanded beyond biotech to cover energy, materials, and chemistry, and it lists equity investment of up to around ₹4.6cr on a rolling basis. They take equity, and it is a global programme, so factor that in when you look at the grant-based options above.
So where does a pre-revenue hardware founder typically start? Grants first, then a pilot-focused accelerator once you’ve got a working prototype.
What funders want to see from a climate startup
Impact evidence is now part of the application. The Climate Finance Accelerator is asking for measurable emissions reductions. The Bharat ClimateTech application is asking for potential climate impact. Remove is teaching MRV as carbon buyers expect it.
Get these ready before you apply:
- A baseline. What would emissions, water use or waste have been without your product?
- A method. What standard or calculation method did you use, and could a third party check it?
- Pilot numbers. Real results, not projections off a slide.
“Eco-friendly” and “low carbon” are not going to cut it. You need a specific figure with a methodology.
Early ESG readiness is also an advantage. If your initial customers are large companies, then they’re going to be asking for emissions data. A founder who can hand over a clean report will move through procurement much faster.
Four mistakes that cost founders a cycle
Apply everywhere. SISFS lets you apply to up to three incubators. Take that as a rule of thumb. Three good applications are going to beat ten generic ones.
Read debt as a grant. The ₹50 lakh tier of SISFS is repayable. Make sure you know exactly what instrument you’re accepting before you sign up.
Ignore stage fit. The Climate Finance Accelerator are after revenue. SAMRIDH are after a tested prototype. Doing it outside the stage is a waste of a window that may not open again for a year.
Forget the paperwork after the win. Milestone-based tranches mean you report on progress and expenditure. Plan for that before the money comes in.
Match the programme to your stage.
There is no single ‘best’ programme. It’s the one that’s appropriate for your stage of development, the one you can afford and the one you can back up with the evidence you have at the moment.
Pre-prototype founders should be looking at grants and early accelerators. Founders with revenue and a live pilot should look at investment readiness programmes and growth-stage investors, where the gap is greatest.
Whichever door you try first, start gathering verifiable impact data right away. Each programme listed above requires it.
