Incubators and Accelerators for Women Founders
112 incubators, accelerators and programmes that list women founders or women entrepreneurs among the people they support. Open a profile to see the programme's stage, location and how to apply.
112 organisations, page 1 of 3
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.
GUSEC
Gujarat University's zero-cost startup council in Ahmedabad, with co-working space, mentorship and a route into DST, MeitY and Gujarat government funding schemes.
Pusa Krishi (ICAR-IARI)
The agribusiness incubator of ICAR-IARI in New Delhi, running cohort programmes for agriculture and agri-tech founders from idea stage to incubation.
Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP)
A DBT-backed Bengaluru bio-incubator running lab space, seed funding and mentorship programmes for life sciences startups since 2009.
IIMA Ventures
IIM Ahmedabad's startup incubator and seed investor, formerly IIMA-CIIE (CIIE.CO), with offices in Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Indore and Guwahati.
Jagriti Enterprise Centre
Enterprise incubation centre in Deoria, eastern Uttar Pradesh, run by Jagriti Sewa Sansthan for small enterprises across seven Purvanchal districts.
IIMV FIELD
The incubation and startup hub of IIM Visakhapatnam, running women-focused, social and emerging-tech programmes from pre-incubation to acceleration.
AIC Banasthali
Atal Incubation Centre at Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan — an incubator for women-led startups in science, technology and deep tech.
Massive Earth Foundation
Gurgaon-based non-profit that runs the LowCarbon.Earth climate-tech accelerator with UNEP and SAFFAL, an accelerator for women-led climate businesses in South Asia.
AgHub
Agri and food-tech incubator at PJTAU, Hyderabad, running incubation, grant calls and rural spokes for founders, students and farmers.
IIM Lucknow Enterprise Incubation Centre
IIM Lucknow's incubator at its Noida campus, running 24-month incubation, sector accelerators and three seed-funding routes for DPIIT-recognised technology startups.
AIC Shiv Nadar University
Atal Incubation Centre at Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida — a tech-agnostic, hardware-leaning incubator set up in 2017 with Atal Innovation Mission support, taking applications year-round.
Sri Sairam Techno Incubator Foundation
Campus incubator at Sri Sairam Engineering College, Chennai, open to students, faculty and outside founders across seven thrust areas.
InFED, IIM Nagpur
The business incubator of IIM Nagpur, running national and state startup schemes plus district business centres across Vidarbha.
Department of Industries & Commerce, Government of Haryana
Haryana's nodal industries department, running Startup Haryana: state registration, seed grants, cost reimbursements and incubator support.
Department of Industries, Government of Bihar
Bihar's industries department, which runs the Bihar Start-up Policy 2022 and the Mukhyamantri Udyami Yojanas: seed and early-stage support for start-ups, and part-grant schemes for individual entrepreneurs.
StartupTN
Tamil Nadu's state startup mission — seed funding, mentoring, procurement access and ten regional hubs, for startups registered in the state.
WE Hub
The Government of Telangana's incubator for women entrepreneurs, running pre-incubation, incubation and acceleration cohorts from Hyderabad.
Karnavati Innovation and Incubation Foundation (KIIF)
Design-and-technology incubator inside Karnavati University, Gandhinagar, open to outside founders as well as students, with a separate defence vertical.
PIEDS
BITS Pilani's technology business incubator, running government schemes and CSR-funded accelerators for hardware, deep-tech and climate startups from Pilani, Rajasthan.
ACCESS Development Services
National livelihoods NGO supporting microenterprise, women entrepreneurship, and rural innovation since 2006.
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.
GINSERV
Bengaluru technology business incubator and accelerator backed by DST, running incubation and acceleration cohorts since 2010.
Government of Gujarat
Gujarat's state startup support, run by the Industries Commissionerate: seed funding and a sustenance allowance through approved nodal institutions, plus accelerators.
IIM Udaipur Incubation Centre
IIM Udaipur's incubation centre, backed by the Department of Science and Technology, running grant, fellowship and accelerator programmes open to founders across India.
Labour & Employment Department, J&K
Jammu & Kashmir government department behind seed money, soft loans and a credit guarantee for entrepreneurs, and Mission YUVA, a UT-wide enterprise programme.
Maharashtra State Innovation Society (MSInS)
Government of Maharashtra's nodal agency for innovation-driven entrepreneurship, running the Maharashtra Startup Week challenge and a women-founder startup scheme.
NXP Semiconductors
NXP's India design centre runs a startup challenge, a startup programme and two student programmes, including a training course for women engineering students.
SACC India
Punjab-based non-profit running government-backed incubation centres and grant accelerators for grassroots founders in North India since 2014.
Startup Odisha
Startup Odisha is the Startup Secretariat under the MSME Department of the Government of Odisha. It recognises startups and runs incubation, allowance and product-support schemes.
Venture Center
A CSIR-NCL-hosted, not-for-profit technology incubator in Pune with cleanroom, biopharma-analysis and prototyping labs for science and deep-tech startups.
Villgro
India's oldest social enterprise incubator, founded in 2001, having supported 340+ enterprises across healthcare, agriculture, and climate.
Visa Foundation
Corporate foundation of Visa Inc. deploying grants and impact investments to support financial inclusion and women-led micro and small businesses globally.
WISE SNDTWU Incubation Centre
Incubator for women-led startups at SNDT Women's University's Juhu campus in Mumbai, with pre-incubation, co-working space, labs and mentoring.
Women Development & Child Welfare Department, AP
Andhra Pradesh government department running a women's helpline, One Stop Centres, shelter and child protection services, and child nutrition support across the state.
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.
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Women: a three-month in-person business course with three IIMs for established women entrepreneurs in India, plus a free online version.
Startup Karnataka
Karnataka's state startup department, based in Bengaluru. Two ELEVATE grant calls, ELEVATE NxT for deep-tech startups across India and ELEVATE Minorities, are open from 13 October to 13 November 2026.
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.
Government of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu's state government, backing startups statewide through StartupTN.
Government of Telangana
Telangana state government innovation programmes, including the T-Hub, WE Hub and T-Works centres, for startups and innovators.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India
Government ministry promoting tribal welfare and entrepreneurship through scholarships, grants, and incubation programs.
Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women
A business incubator run by IGDTUW Anveshan Foundation, the Section 8 company of the women's technical university, in Kashmere Gate, Delhi.
ACIC Devbhumi Foundation
Atal Community Innovation Centre in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, backing grassroots innovators, women's groups and early founders across Kumaon.
DTU Innovation and Incubation Foundation (DTU-IIF)
The official incubator of Delhi Technological University in north-west Delhi — sector agnostic, open to founders from anywhere, with a women-led seed support track backed by DST.
Shaheed Rajguru College of Applied Sciences for Women
Shaheed Rajguru College of Applied Sciences for Women is an institution in East, Delhi.
Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani
PIEDS, the technology business incubator of BITS Pilani, runs mentorship, co-working and government-backed funding programmes for early-stage startups.
Jayoti Vidyapeeth Womens University, Jaipur
Jayoti Vidyapeeth Womens University, Jaipur is an institution in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
Programmes for women founders take several forms: a dedicated cohort, a reserved share of places in a general programme, mentoring and networks led by women investors and founders, and schemes run by a state government or a bank. Which kind a programme is changes what it can do for you, so read how each describes itself.
Some are open only to companies led or majority-owned by women, and the definition differs between programmes. If eligibility depends on ownership or the founder's role, have your shareholding and registration details ready before you apply.
A women-focused tag on a profile means the organisation says it supports women founders, not that every programme it runs is restricted to them. Open the profile to see what is on offer and for whom.
The numbers on this page
- 112 of the 2429 incubators, accelerators and programmes we list in India (5%) are on this page.
- By organisation type, the most common are Incubator (67), Academic (35) and Government (30). One organisation can carry more than one type.
- By stage focus, the most listed are Ideation (68), Validation (65) and Early Revenue (39).
- By sector, the most listed are Deep Tech (34), Social Impact (33) and AgriTech (29).
- By state, most are in Karnataka (13), Tamil Nadu (13) and Gujarat (12).
- By city, most are in Bengaluru (12), Delhi (8) and Hyderabad (7).
- 40 of 112 offer coworking space on site.
What to confirm before you apply
- Is the programme restricted to women-led companies, or open to everyone with a focus on women?
- How does it define a women-led company: founder, majority owner, or both?
- Is it a dedicated cohort, or a share of places in a general programme?
- What does it provide: mentoring, funding access, space, introductions?
- Does it take equity?
- Which stage does it accept?
Frequently asked questions
How many programmes for women founders are listed?
We list 112 organisations on this page, each listed under women founders. The count changes as profiles are added and checked.
Do I need to be the only founder to apply?
Usually not, but definitions differ. Some programmes ask that a woman be the founder or hold a majority stake, and others ask only that she be a co-founder in a leading role. Check the eligibility on the programme's own page.
Are these programmes free?
Terms differ by programme. Some are free or funded by a government scheme, some take equity and some charge a fee. The terms are set by each programme and should be on its own page.
Does the tag mean every programme at the organisation is for this group?
No. It means the organisation says it supports this group. Some run a dedicated programme and some include it among several. Open the profile to see what is on offer.