Greenovation Hub

Choosing a challenge

• Check the status on the challenge's official page first. Most listed challenges are closed, and the Circularity Challenge 2026 is the one still open on the timelines.
• Match the theme to your work: agriculture, agri-mechanisation, agrivoltaics, rural renewable energy, urban climate, steel decarbonisation, or plastic, textile and food circularity.
• Farmer producer organisations should check the location limits on the FPC track, which is restricted to Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

Before you apply

• Some challenges show conflicting dates. Confirm the deadline on the official page before you plan.
• Eligibility wording differs between pages. Read the eligibility section of the challenge you are applying to.
• Awards are described as non-dilutive for some challenges, but terms differ, so read the terms on each page.

Greenovation Hub is an accelerator for climate and agriculture innovation in India. It runs themed challenges for startups, social enterprises, innovators and farmer producer organisations, and it holds bootcamps for entrepreneurs and innovators. Its own pages and EarthON Foundation's pages do not agree on who runs it, so this description gives both accounts.

How the challenges work

Each challenge is a dated call on one theme. The themes include sustainable agriculture, agri-mechanisation, agrivoltaics, renewable energy for livelihoods, urban climate resilience, steel decarbonisation, and plastic, textile and food circularity. Most challenges offer cash awards to winners. Some describe those awards as non-dilutive. The SustainAgri Challenge says no equity is taken and no repayment is required.

Some challenges also connect winners to investment. The Circularity Challenge 2026 points to follow-on investment through the EarthON Blended Finance Platform and the GreenovatiON Fund. The Agri Mechanization Challenge names a route to equity investment for startups through EarthON Gurukul. The Urban Climate Resilience Challenge offers a chance to secure investment in equity or debt. The Agrivoltaics Challenge offers access to grants for implementation and scaling.

The challenges sit alongside bootcamps. The Hub describes its support as technical mentorship, bootcamps and scaling support.

Who can apply

Eligibility differs by challenge, so read the official page before applying. Across the calls, the pages invite startups, SMEs, innovators, social enterprises and farmer producer organisations (FPCs). The Urban Climate Resilience Challenge asks for solutions applicable to the Indian urban context, from startups registered within the last 10 years. The FPC track of the Agri Mechanization Challenge is limited to Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The Renewable Energy for Livelihood Challenge gives eligibility wording that is inconsistent and appears to repeat the urban challenge's terms, so check that page carefully.

Programme status

Most of the challenges on this page are closed. On the timelines the pages show, the Circularity Challenge 2026 is the only one still taking applications. Each challenge has its own page and timeline, so the dates on that page are the ones to check first. Some pages give conflicting dates for the same challenge. The challenges listing also still marks the SustainAgri Challenge as open, although its timeline shows applications closing in September 2025. Past editions include the Energy Challenge 2024 and the Gurukool bootcamp in Nadia, held in December 2025.

Scale and track record

The home page says the bootcamps have run four cohorts, engaging 80+ NGOs and rural enterprises and 120+ startups across 18 states. It names partners including Goonj, Christ University, BAF and WASSAN. The same page says the challenges have drawn 5,000+ applications. These figures are self-reported, and the page does not date them. The home page also says EarthON Foundation has accelerated 400+ startups and 100+ FPCs across 9+ sectors. That figure covers EarthON as a whole, not the Hub alone.

Who runs it

The accounts differ. The Hub's own pages describe it as the flagship accelerator of SwitchON Foundation, and they use both 'Greenovation Hub' and 'Greenovation & ONganic Hub' as its name. EarthON Foundation's pages describe the Hub as a collaborator, and most challenges credit EarthON Foundation as the initiator. The Circularity Challenge's own page credits EarthON Foundation with the Hub and SwitchON Foundation, while its application form names only EarthON Foundation and SwitchON Foundation.

Locations

The challenges are for work in India. The home page also describes a platform for global innovators, but each challenge's own page limits eligibility to India or to particular regions. The FPC track of the Agri Mechanization Challenge is limited to Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The Gurukool bootcamp was held in Nadia.