Accelerator Programs in India
682 accelerator programs in India. Accelerators run time-boxed cohorts that end in a demo day, so they usually expect a working product and some early traction rather than an idea. Open each profile for the next cohort window and what the programme asks of you in return, and compare how many startups each has taken through.
iStart Rajasthan
Rajasthan's government startup platform — registration, free incubation at Techno Hub and the iStart Nest centres, and the state's startup policy schemes.
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Kerala Startup Mission
Kerala's government startup agency, running the state's grant ladder, incubation and acceleration tracks, and fablabs from Thiruvananthapuram.
NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore
IIM Bangalore's startup incubator: free programmes for founders at idea, prototype and growth stage, plus sector tracks in climate, mobility, fintech and healthcare.
Climate Collective
Climate Collective Foundation is a climate-tech startup support organisation and accelerator body, based in Visakhapatnam.
GoMassive
GoMassive Earth Network is a Gurugram-based climate innovation network that runs climate-tech accelerators and backs climate startups through its investment syndicate.
build3
A startup studio and venture builder for impact-driven founders, running an accelerator and a fundraising bootcamp.
IIMA Ventures
IIM Ahmedabad's startup incubator and seed investor, formerly IIMA-CIIE (CIIE.CO), with offices in Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Indore and Guwahati.
Maruti Suzuki Innovation
Maruti Suzuki's open-innovation platform in Gurugram, running six programmes for mobility startups that can end in a paid pilot with the carmaker.
JioGenNext
Reliance Industries' equity-free market-access programme, connecting startups with pilots and deployments across the Jio and Reliance business units.
Marwari Catalysts
Startup accelerator based in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, backing early-stage founders in Tier 2 and Tier 3 India with mentorship, investment and investor access.
Indigram Labs Foundation
A DST-backed technology business incubator in New Delhi for agri, food, climate and rural-health startups.
AIC-Sangam Innovation Foundation
A cleantech incubator for startups building climate-resilient products, with a route to Startup India Seed Fund support.
Cultiv8 (CIET-TBI)
Cultiv8 is the technology business incubator of Coimbatore Institute of Engineering and Technology, running an open incubation intake, a four-week founder sprint and seed support through DST and Startup India schemes.
Cultiv8
Cultiv8 is the technology business incubator of CIET in Coimbatore, running incubation and accelerator programmes for founders from idea stage to growth.
Catalyst Impact Accelerator (Catalyst AIC)
An Atal Incubation Centre set up by IFMR Society, backing impact-first startups across India with incubation and seed capital.
Bosch DNA accelerator
Bosch's startup alliance programme in India, pairing startups in Bosch's areas of interest with its business units for co-creation.
Brigade
Brigade REAP is an UrbanTech accelerator backed by the Brigade Group, running a 16-week programme for early-stage founders across the built world.
IIHMR Startups
Healthcare-only accelerator in Jaipur, run as a Section 8 non-profit by the IIHMR Foundation.
AssisTech Foundation (ATF)
India's first assistive-technology accelerator, based in Bengaluru, with a 65+ start-up portfolio and a network of 500+ AT start-ups.
888VC
Bengaluru venture firm that runs the GRO8 accelerator, a 12-week programme for early startups with global plans, and syndicates investments across India, the US and the UAE.
Favcy Venture Builders
A New Delhi venture builder that co-builds startups and takes equity, and runs the 1to10 accelerator for revenue-stage founders.
Favcy Venture Builders
A Delhi-based venture builder that co-builds startups with founders and operators, taking equity, plus a 10-week accelerator and an angel-investing track.
Favcy Venture Builders
A Delhi-based venture builder that co-builds startups with founders, taking equity rather than running a traditional incubator.
Afthonia Lab
A Bengaluru fintech and techfin incubator that also runs India market-entry accelerators for overseas scaleups.
UIH - United Incubation Hub
Campus incubator run by United Group of Institutions in Naini, Prayagraj, offering pre-incubation, physical incubation and virtual incubation to startups at any stage.
T-Hub
Telangana's not-for-profit startup hub in Hyderabad, running corporate, sector and venture-studio programmes without taking equity.
Invention Engine
Founder-led six-month accelerator in Gurugram for early-stage AI and deeptech startups, with seed funding and a global customer advisory board.
Startupbootcamp India
Startupbootcamp India runs 12-week, industry-focused accelerator cohorts in Ahmedabad, connecting early-stage founders with corporate partners, mentors and investors.
MASA Forum
Networking platform empowering MSMEs and startups for growth across India
Innovation Mission Punjab
Public-private partnership in Mohali that runs idea-validation, pre-seed, accelerator and student programmes for startups and young innovators in Punjab.
ACSEL Technology Forum
AI centre under the IIT Alumni Centre Bengaluru, running the Avinya accelerator for Karnataka-based AI startups.
Vidhai & Vaanam Space LLP
Chennai accelerator running a 12-week hybrid cohort programme for early-stage founders across SaaS, hardware and deep-tech, with applications open for its second cohort.
PIEDS
BITS Pilani's technology business incubator, running government schemes and CSR-funded accelerators for hardware, deep-tech and climate startups from Pilani, Rajasthan.
1811 Labs
Bengaluru product studio that builds and runs its own consumer AI apps and Pulse marketing agents, and advises other teams — it is not an incubator or accelerator and runs no programme founders can apply to.
Soma
Hybrid SaaS platform and accelerator connecting deep tech startups with government, industry, and academic resources to progress from concept validation through to scaling.
Amazon India
Amazon India's routes for startups: the Smbhav Venture Fund for early-stage companies, the Propel accelerator for D2C brands going global, and Saheli Accelerate for women entrepreneurs.
CII Centre of Excellence
CII's startup centre at T-Hub, Hyderabad: corporate pilot and market-access programmes for growth-stage startups, plus a paid affiliation certificate for Indian startups.
India Accelerator
A multi-stage, fund-led startup accelerator headquartered in Gurugram, running sector accelerator tracks, a venture studio, an investment arm and mentoring for early- and growth-stage founders.
SanchiConnect
A free deep-tech network connecting startups, investors, mentors and enterprises, plus a small set of application-based accelerators for deep-tech and fintech founders.
Upaya Social Ventures
Bangalore-based nonprofit that invests in and accelerates early-stage Indian businesses creating dignified jobs for people in extreme poverty.
TiE Pune
Pune chapter of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs): an equity-free accelerator called Nurture, an angel group, a women's pitch route and student programmes for founders.
FundEnable
A fundraising ecosystem for startup founders: a capital-raising accelerator, end-to-end round support, and its own capital invested in startups.
ISB I-Venture
The Indian School of Business's entrepreneurship platform in Hyderabad and Mohali, running a flagship women-founder accelerator alongside student-only and sector-specific programmes.
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
SINE, IIT Bombay's incubator and deep-tech accelerator for technology startups, with a Semiconductor accelerator cohort taking applications.
Dayananda Sagar University
DERBI Foundation, the technology business incubator at Dayananda Sagar University in Bengaluru, runs pre-incubation, incubation and acceleration programmes for startups.
Masters Union School of Business
Masters' Union's early-stage investment arm, MU Ventures, backs idea-stage founders under 25 from Gurugram.
Indian Institute of Technology Jammu
I3C, the incubation and innovation council of IIT Jammu, runs Catalyst 30, a seed-equity programme for revenue-generating startups, and a mentoring clinic for founders in Jammu and Kashmir and beyond.
Management Education & Research Institute
MERI Startup HUB, run by the Management Education & Research Institute in Janakpuri, Delhi, offers pre-incubation, incubation and acceleration programmes for startups.
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How to choose an accelerator in India
An accelerator is a fixed-length programme, usually a few months, that takes a batch of startups through mentoring, introductions and a closing demo day. It is built to compress progress, so it suits a team that already has something to show: a working product, early users or a first pilot. If you are still validating an idea, an incubator or a pre-incubation track is usually the better first step.
Accelerators in India differ on three things that matter more than the brand: what they ask for in return, how selective the intake is, and what the programme actually does week to week. Some take equity, some take nothing and run on sponsor money, and some charge a programme fee. Some are generalist and some only take one sector. Read each profile for the sector focus and the stage it takes before you spend time on an application.
Timing is the practical constraint. Most accelerators open applications once or twice a year and close them on a date, so a good fit that you apply to late is a missed cohort, not a delayed one. Shortlist three or four from the list above, note their application windows, and prepare one set of materials (deck, short product demo, traction summary) that you adapt for each.
The numbers on this page
- 682 of the 2755 organisations we list in India (25%) are tagged "Accelerator".
- By stage focus, the most common are Validation (47), Early Revenue (42) and Ideation (40).
- By sector, the most listed are Deep Tech (33), FinTech (33) and HealthTech (30).
- By state, most are in Karnataka (135), Maharashtra (115) and Delhi (82).
- By city, most are in Bengaluru (126), Delhi (82) and Mumbai (72).
- Many are also tagged Incubator (580) and Startup Studio (86), so the same organisation can appear on more than one list.
- 44 of 682 offer coworking space on site.
What to ask before you join an accelerator
- What does the programme take in return: equity, a fee, or nothing?
- How many startups are in each cohort, and how much one-to-one time does each get?
- Is the programme in person in India, or can part of it be done remotely?
- Does it end in investor introductions, and who has actually attended past demo days?
- Are there sector or stage restrictions on who can apply?
- What support continues after the programme ends?
Frequently asked questions
How many accelerator programs are there in India?
We list 682 accelerator programs in India, out of 2755 startup support organisations we list there. The count updates as profiles are added and verified.
Where in India are most accelerator programs based?
Counting the profiles on this page, most are in Karnataka (135), Maharashtra (115) and Delhi (82).
What is the difference between an accelerator and an incubator?
An accelerator runs a short, fixed-length programme for startups that already have a product or early traction, and ends with a demo day. An incubator is usually open-ended, takes earlier-stage teams, and gives space, mentoring and facilities over a longer period.
Do I need to be based in India to join one of these accelerators?
It depends on the programme. Some expect the team to be on site for the whole cohort, some are hybrid, and some are fully remote. The location requirement is stated on each programme's own page, so check it before applying.