Marico Innovation Foundation

Choose the right programme

• Revenue-earning for-profit startup in plastic waste, clean tech or agri-tech: Scale-Up. It is mentoring, not funding.
• Innovation that is live and past prototype, from a startup or a not-for-profit: Indian Innovation Icons, in the Business or Social category.
• Looking for cash: neither programme pays out. The awards carry no cash prize and Scale-Up gives no direct funding.
• Expecting it to be free: Scale-Up charges a one-time fee after you have seen value from it. Indian Innovation Icons has no application fee.

How applications work

• Indian Innovation Icons: apply through the online form only. Post and email entries are not accepted. The form can be saved in parts and completed within 30 days. The 2027 window has closed and the next one has not been announced, so watch MIF's awards page and its general inbox.
• Scale-Up: the site says both that applications are rolling and that they are currently closed. Check the Scale-Up application page and use its notify box if the form is not live.

How selection works

• Indian Innovation Icons: screening, two jury rounds per category and on-ground due diligence by an independent knowledge partner. The whole process takes about eight months, ending in a Grand Finale.
• Scale-Up: MIF says selection takes two to three months with several rounds of discussion and due diligence. Selected startups get a dedicated portfolio manager and a one-on-one session with Harsh Mariwala to identify business challenges. MIF says rejections are usually emailed three to four weeks after the first meeting.

What reviewers look for

• For the awards: the awards page lists four equally weighted criteria for the Business category: uniqueness, impact, scalability and sustainability. The terms and conditions list a longer set that also covers usability and practicality, so cover all of these in your entry.
• Proof, not plans: the awards need an innovation that is running, with sales and results. Scale-Up does not consider startups without revenue.
• A coachable team (Scale-Up): MIF asks for a diverse, strong and coachable team and a differentiated product. You can be in other incubators or accelerators, but you need the time to meet mentors regularly.
• Reapplying: past applicants can apply again to both programmes.

Questions

Write to the foundation's general inbox, mif@marico.com.

Marico Innovation Foundation (MIF) is the not-for-profit arm of Marico Limited. Harsh Mariwala, who chairs Marico, founded it in 2003 to run programmes that support innovators through their growth and to share ideas and insights with the wider business community in India. It works from Mumbai and describes itself as a philanthropic institution.

MIF does not run a classic incubator and does not write cheques to startups. Its two standing programmes are the Indian Innovation Icons awards, previously called the Innovation for India Awards, and Scale-Up, a mentoring-led accelerator that takes no equity. Its stated focus is startups, innovation and entrepreneurship, with a sector emphasis on climate adaptation: plastic waste management, clean technology and agri-technology.

How the programmes work

Indian Innovation Icons is a biennial national award. It was set up in 2006, and MIF says ten editions were completed by 2025. The 11th edition, Indian Innovation Icons 2027, has two categories open to applicants. The Business category is for India-based for-profit startups and organisations. The Social category is for India-based not-for-profit bodies, including NGOs, charitable trusts, social enterprises, philanthropic bodies, government entities, multilateral agencies, community foundations and CSR or corporate funds. A third recognition, Global Gamechanger, is not open to applications and is chosen by MIF's Governing Council.

The awards carry no cash prize and no application fee. What winners get is access: a one-hour one-on-one diagnosis session with Harsh Mariwala, six months of mentoring from Marico's senior leadership, introductions to investors, grant makers and corporate leaders, a presentation at the Grand Finale, an InnoWin Day of pre-arranged meetings with selected institutions, a LinkedIn endorsement written by Mr Mariwala, storytelling and presentation coaching, and media visibility, including a video made with The Better India.

Scale-Up is built for startups that already earn revenue. Strategic and functional mentors from Marico and the wider industry are matched to the business challenges a founder identifies, in areas such as procurement, sales, marketing, finance, manufacturing and people management. Each startup gets a dedicated portfolio manager. MIF takes no equity and does not give direct funding, though it says it helps founders reach impact-focused investors and helps refine business plans and pitches during fundraising. It charges a one-time fee, which it says applies only after a startup has seen value from the programme.

Who can apply

For Scale-Up, MIF looks for incorporated, for-profit startups with existing revenue in plastic waste management, clean technology or agri-technology. Startups with no revenue are not considered. Reapplication is allowed. Its portfolio page also lists healthcare startups, and MIF says it has mentored organisations in healthcare, development and other sectors in the past; these are no longer its stated focus areas.

For Indian Innovation Icons, the innovation must be running and past the prototype stage. One page of the site gives the age limit as 10 years since implementation for the Business category and 16 years for the Social category. The terms and conditions word it differently: the innovation must have been implemented and commercialised after 2009, with proof of concept, sales and results in the past ten years. Check the terms before you apply. Applicants must be incorporated under Indian law, may submit one entry per category, and must own the innovation with no pending IP claims. Multiple applications are allowed if the innovations differ, and past applicants may reapply.

Where each programme stands

Applications for Indian Innovation Icons 2027 opened on 22 June 2026 and have now closed. Jury round one was held on 10 September 2026, on-ground due diligence runs through September and October, jury round two is on 17 November 2026 and the Grand Finale is on 4 March 2027. MIF has not announced the next edition's window. Some older pages still say applications are open, so rely on the awards page.

Scale-Up's status is unclear. One page says startups are selected on a rolling basis and can apply at any time of year. The Scale-Up application page says applications are currently closed and offers a box to leave an email for the next opening. Treat it as closed unless the application form loads.

Earlier initiatives

MIF has also run one-off initiatives. #Innovate2Cultivate was an agri-innovation programme that scouted more than 500 agripreneurs across India and shortlisted 37 for the programme. #Innovate2BeatCovid was a national challenge in 2020 that received more than 1,500 applications, with four innovators named as standouts. MIF also reports a Plastics Program for plastic waste entrepreneurs, whose innovators it says saved more than 124,360 tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2023-24.

Scale

All figures here are MIF's own and are undated on its pages. Its Scale-Up page says more than 50 startups have been mentored over eight years and that more than 100 mentors and experts take part. It reports two startups it calls soonicorns and more than 15 sectors reached. Its home page counts more than 70 innovations awarded. MIF reported over 1,000 applications for Indian Innovation Icons 2027. Past winners it names include Skyroot Aerospace, Astrome Technologies and Indra Water in 2025, and Dozee, Dhruva Space and Ishitva Robotic Systems in 2023.

Who runs it

Harsh Mariwala is the founder. Suranjana Ghosh is Head of Foundation and Varun Hangloo heads Scale-Up and new initiatives. Amit Chandra is Honorary Chairperson of the Governing Council and chairs the jury for the 2027 awards, and Dr R A Mashelkar is Chairman Emeritus of the Council. Deloitte acts as the independent knowledge partner for on-ground due diligence in the 11th edition.

Location, contact and careers

MIF lists the Marico Limited office at Grande Palladium, CST Road, Kalina, Santacruz East, Mumbai 400098. It gives no separate premises. Questions go to its general inbox. A careers link on the site points to openings on LinkedIn.