NASSCOM

Pick the right NASSCOM programme

NASSCOM runs several separate startup programmes rather than one funnel, so start by matching your stage and sector to the right one:

• Early-stage deeptech founder wanting mentorship and investor readiness: look at DeepTech Club Launchpad.
• Deeptech startup ready for a structured, time-boxed push (recent cohort: AgriTech and WaterTech): look at DeepTech Club Accelerate.
• Hardware, IoT or AI startup wanting desk space and lab access: look at the NASSCOM Centre of Excellence for IoT & AI in Gurugram.
• Want national recognition for a deeptech product: apply to Emerge 50 during its annual nomination window.
• Have a live AI or GenAI deployment to showcase: apply to AI Gamechangers.
• Want to expand internationally: apply to InnoTrek for the UK, Middle East or US edition.
• Corporate pilots and proof-of-concepts: engage through the Nasscom Innovation Partnership Program.
• Woman tech founder: look at Tech.WE.

How applications work

Each programme runs its own application window on its own page or form — there is no single NASSCOM startup application. Emerge 50 and DTC Accelerate both publish a dated timeline (nominations, evaluation, jury round, announcement), so apply within the stated window rather than assuming rolling admission. Before applying, open the specific programme page to confirm the round is currently accepting applications — several of NASSCOM's own pages show closed or inconsistent status for past cohorts.

How selection works

Emerge 50 and DTC Accelerate both use a multi-stage process: an internal evaluation and shortlisting round, followed by a jury round, followed by a final announcement. Emerge 50's jury looks at the strength of the scientific or technical foundation, depth of R&D, potential impact and scalability, clarity of the commercialisation plan, and the founding team's experience.

What reviewers look for

For Emerge 50, eligibility is explicit: your company must be registered in India (private limited, partnership or LLP) with a functional Indian office, founded within roughly the last ten years, under a stated turnover ceiling, with at least two team members, and building on a genuinely new technology, scientific discovery or complex engineering process rather than an incremental product. You should also be an independent company, not a subsidiary or spin-off of another one.

Where to ask

For DeepTech Club, Emerge 50 or NIPP questions, NASSCOM's DeepTech team can be reached at deeptech-coreteam@nasscom.in. For InnoTrek, write to innotrek@nasscom.in. For the Gurugram Centre of Excellence for IoT & AI, write to co-innovate@nasscom.in.

NASSCOM — the National Association of Software and Service Companies — is India's technology industry association, headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. It was founded in 1988 and today counts thousands of member companies, from startups to large IT and GCC firms. Most of NASSCOM's work is industry advocacy and member services, but it also runs a set of startup-facing programmes through its DeepTech and AI divisions, and this page covers only that side of it.

What they support

NASSCOM's startup programmes focus on deeptech and AI: artificial intelligence and machine learning, quantum computing, semiconductors, space-tech, biotech, advanced materials, robotics, IoT and clean energy. Its DeepTech microsite states that India already hosts several thousand deeptech companies today. The programmes span idea-stage teams through to startups nearing Series A or early commercialisation, and one programme, Tech.WE, is specifically for women technology entrepreneurs.

Programmes

The NASSCOM DeepTech Club, launched in 2017, is India's largest deeptech startup community by its own account, and runs two structured tracks. DTC Accelerate is a 20-week cohort programme with sector-focused mentorship, milestone checkpoints, product-market-fit and go-to-market support, and a demo day in front of investors and corporates; its most recent cohort focused on AgriTech and WaterTech founders. DTC Launchpad is a virtual incubation track for early-stage, long-gestation deeptech startups, offering mentorship, investor-readiness support and market-entry help; NASSCOM's own pages are inconsistent about whether Launchpad has fully launched, so check the current application status before assuming it is open.

NASSCOM Emerge 50 is an annual deeptech recognition programme, now in its 16th year, open to Indian private limited companies, partnerships or LLPs founded within the last decade, with a functional Indian office and revenue under a stated turnover ceiling. Applicants go through nomination, evaluation, a jury round and an in-person award ceremony at NASSCOM's Future Forge event; winners get national visibility, a pitch slot at Future Forge, and access to NASSCOM's mentor and investor network.

NASSCOM AI Gamechangers Awards, launched in 2021 and now in its fourth edition, recognises AI and generative-AI implementation stories from startups, enterprises, GCCs and government bodies, judged across sector categories such as BFSI, healthcare, retail and manufacturing.

NASSCOM InnoTrek is a global market-access programme that takes Indian deeptech startups on immersive, days-long trips to the UK, the Middle East and the US, connecting them with venture capital firms and enterprises for pilots and partnerships. It has run for over a decade.

The Nasscom Innovation Partnership Program (NIPP), started in 2015, is an open-innovation platform that connects large enterprises with technology and B2B startups for curated pilots, proof-of-concepts and innovation challenges.

Tech.WE is NASSCOM's programme for women technology entrepreneurs, structured around a peer community, an idea-validation track and an accelerator track, aimed at helping women-led tech startups scale.

Facilities and support

NASSCOM also runs a Centre of Excellence for IoT & AI with physical hubs, including one in Gurugram, Haryana, at the Hartron Innovation Hub, and others in Bengaluru, Gandhinagar and Visakhapatnam. The Gurugram centre works on what it calls a FAME model — funding connects, incubation, acceleration, mentor support and enterprise connect — and gives resident startups access to an in-house electronics and testing lab with equipment such as a vector signal generator, an oscilloscope and development kits, alongside desk space.

Track record

On its own pages, NASSCOM's DeepTech Club reports a community of more than 450 early-to-mid-stage companies and more than 120 technology leaders and mentors, with more than 5,100 industry connects and more than 4,200 hours of mentoring delivered. InnoTrek reports having taken more than 270 Indian deeptech startups through its programmes and engaged more than 700 global VCs and enterprises. NIPP reports more than 2,500 tech and B2B startups and more than 70 corporate partners over ten years. NASSCOM's Emerge 50 2026 edition named ten winning startups spanning water technology, electric-vehicle traction, agri-tech AI, cybersecurity, quantum hardware, medtech and space-tech.

How to apply

There is no single application process across NASSCOM's startup programmes — each one runs its own apply page or form, usually reachable from the DeepTech microsite, and most open a defined application window rather than accepting applications on a rolling basis. DTC Accelerate and Emerge 50 both run structured selection processes with a shortlisting stage and a jury round before a final cohort or winners list is announced.

Who runs it

NASSCOM is a not-for-profit industry association; alongside its startup programmes it runs policy advocacy, talent and skilling initiatives and industry research for its member companies. A separately branded affiliate, the NASSCOM Foundation, runs corporate social responsibility and digital-literacy programmes, including one focused on rural women entrepreneurs, which is a different track from the startup programmes on this page.