AIC-Sangam Innovation Foundation

Choosing the right route

AIC-Sangam is a cleantech incubator, so the first test is fit: your idea, product or service should help build communities resilient to climate change, in areas such as sustainable energy, resource productivity or climate-resilient agriculture. If your work is unrelated to climate or cleantech, this is not the right incubator.

How applications work

There are two live routes. The Incubation Program is the general entry point, reached through the "Pitch To Us" call on its page. Startups seeking seed support apply through the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme page, which carries an "Apply Now" call. General questions go to the incubator's prospect inbox.

What they look for

The Incubation Program lists clear eligibility: founders at the ideation-to-prototype stage, usually with a bench-top prototype, a team of fewer than ten people, a startup under five years old, ready for physical incubation, and at registration or pre-registration stage. Being able to show a working bench-top prototype and readiness to sit in a physical incubation space will matter.

A note on past programmes

The accelerator programmes you may read about — EIAP, FLCTD and the Land Accelerator South Asia — are listed as past programmes. Treat them as a guide to the incubator's track record rather than as open intakes, and check the current programme pages for what is accepting applications now.

AIC-Sangam Innovation Foundation is a cleantech-focused startup incubator, described on its own site as the incubation arm of Synapses. Its site now carries the name AIC-Synapses alongside the earlier AIC-Sangam, which still appears in its branding and footer, so founders will see both names in use. It describes itself as a dedicated cleantech incubator supporting innovations that improve access to sustainable energy and resource productivity, with the aim of building communities that are resilient to climate change.

What they support

The incubator works with founders whose idea, product or service helps build communities resilient to climate change. Its stated focus is cleantech: sustainable energy, resource productivity and climate resilience, extending into climate-resilient agriculture through its past rural programmes. Teams it looks for are typically at the ideation-to-prototype stage, often with a bench-top prototype, under five years old, with a team of fewer than ten people, and ready for physical incubation.

Programmes

The current entry point is the Incubation Program, physical incubation for cleantech startups creating climate-resilient communities, offering infrastructure, lab access and connections into industry and government. Its page states that no equity stake or fee is involved.

AIC-Sangam is also a channel for the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), through which selected startups can receive seed financial assistance for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialisation. Its SISFS page carries an active application call.

The incubator has run several accelerator programmes that it now lists under past programmes. The Emerging India Acceleration Program (EIAP), run across three cohorts, was designed to promote institutional cooperative structures and rural agriculture SMEs and to improve investment in value-addition closer to the farm gate. The FLCTD Low Carbon Technology Accelerator, run across four cohorts, offered business capacity building to startups and innovators developing solutions that reduce energy use and dependence on fossil fuels. The Land Accelerator South Asia, whose most recent documented edition ran in 2021, supported entrepreneurs restoring degraded forests and farmlands and closed with a virtual demo day. These are listed as past programmes rather than open intakes.

Facilities and support

The incubator states that it runs a roughly 10,000 sq ft space dedicated to startups working in the cleantech sector, with co-working available to incubatees. The Incubation Program describes access to infrastructure and lab facilities, and connections into industry and government.

Track record

On its homepage AIC-Sangam reports more than 190 startups incubated and more than 2,050 jobs created. It also reports more than 61 women-led startups among those it has backed. These are the incubator's own self-reported figures.

Who runs it and where

AIC-Sangam presents itself as the incubation arm of Synapses. Its location is stated differently in different places: its operational office is listed at 91 Springboard, Plot no. 145, Sector 44, Gurugram 122003, in Delhi NCR, while the site footer gives a registered address in Alto Pilerne, North Goa, Goa 403521. Founders should confirm which address applies to them.

How to apply

Founders can pitch to the incubator through the "Pitch To Us" call on the Incubation Program page, and apply to the seed fund route through the "Apply Now" call on the SISFS page. General enquiries go to the incubator's prospect inbox. For those tracking the organisation, it also publishes careers and events information on its site.