The Circular Bharat Accelerator is a multi-stakeholder initiative led by Hindustan Unilever Limited and NITI Aayog, implemented in partnership with NSRCEL and Xynteo. Positioned under Project Circular Bharat, HUL’s national plastics circularity programme, the accelerator is designed to strengthen India’s transition toward a circular economy by enabling market-ready, technology-driven startups to scale deployable solutions.
The program brings together industry, government, and ecosystem partners on a unified platform to accelerate circular innovations through structured go-to-market refinement, pilot access, regulatory alignment, and commercialization pathways. Over a three-year horizon, the accelerator aims to nurture 50 high-potential circularity startups, enabling them to transition from early validation to scalable enterprise adoption.
Rather than functioning as a generic incubation program, the Circular Bharat Accelerator is explicitly GTM-focused. It emphasizes structured pilot-readiness, helping startups align solutions with real-world industry and government needs. Selected startups receive one-on-one mentoring tailored to their business model and stage, structured exposure through roundtables with corporates and policymakers, and access to curated pilot and micro-pilot opportunities to validate their solutions in Indian market conditions.
The program provides milestone-based grant support to select pilot-ready startups. It is free of cost and does not take equity. In addition to grant support, startups gain access to venture capital connects and a long-term alumni ecosystem, ensuring continued engagement beyond the program cycle.
The accelerator specifically targets circular economy solutions across plastics, advanced recycling, reuse systems, textiles, e-waste, and circular supply chains. By integrating policy insight, industry demand, and entrepreneurial execution, the Circular Bharat Accelerator seeks to systematically de-risk innovation and accelerate the commercialization of circular solutions that contribute to resource efficiency, waste reduction, and sustainable manufacturing in India.