Emerge

Emerge was the inaugural cohort of the BPCL Ankur Fund. Applications closed on 22 April 2025, with pitching planned for May 2025, diligence in June and the investment decision in July. BPCL lists it as closed.

It ran on two themes. Energy efficiency covered process improvement across refining and marketing — predictive maintenance, AI-powered energy management, storage and terminal optimisation, pipeline efficiency, heat transfer optimisation, advanced process control and robotic process automation — and waste heat recovery and energy recycling. Innovation in city gas distribution covered the end-to-end CNG customer journey, last-mile connectivity for piped natural gas including smart metering, installation technology and billing, safety systems such as pipeline monitoring and leak detection using acoustics, SCADA or IoT, predictive maintenance and inspection tools, and AI-based project management for network build-out.

Who could apply: the same four rules as every cohort — DPIIT registration, work under the named theme categories, early stage including seed funding, and founders holding more than 26 per cent of the equity.

How selection worked: eligibility screen, then scoring on innovativeness, team and startup credentials, solution and market size, and feasibility and viability, then a pitch to the committee, with IDBI Capital Market & Securities Ltd. supporting evaluation and diligence.