EarthON Foundation

Choosing a route

• Early-stage startups and social enterprises: the EarthON Fund offers flexible equity or SAFE investment.
• Grassroots and community organisations: the Grassroots Fund gives core grants, and the Fund makes seed grants for proof-of-concept work or early pilots.
• Founders from climate-vulnerable regions: the Eco Champions Programme is built for them.
• Innovators with a specific climate solution: look for the Greenovation challenge that matches its theme.
• Founders invited to TapovON: entry is by invitation.

Before you apply

• Check which organisations each challenge accepts. The challenges name startups, SMEs, innovators and farmer producer companies separately.
• Confirm grant sizes on the programme's own page, because the foundation's pages give different figures for similar grants.
• Check the dates on each challenge's page before applying, since some challenges have already closed.

EarthON Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit in the United States. It blends philanthropy and investment to support grassroots organisations and early-stage ventures across India and the Global South. Its work runs through funds, climate challenges, bootcamps and a learning platform.

Who runs it

The foundation is anchored by two not-for-profit entities. One is registered in the United States as a 501(c)(3). The other is in India and holds FCRA and 80G status.

Funds

The EarthON Fund combines philanthropic, debt, SAFE and equity instruments. It is an evergreen blended capital fund for grassroots entrepreneurs and early-stage ventures working at the intersection of environmental sustainability and income generation for under-served communities. It makes flexible equity or SAFE investments in early-stage startups and social enterprises, and seed grants to grassroots and community organisations for proof-of-concept work or early pilots. The foundation says it is also launching a pilot fund for India, powered by philanthropic capital.

The EarthON Grassroots Fund provides flexible, multi-year, trust-based core grants through a participatory approach. It supports grassroots organisations working on innovative climate solutions. A homepage listing describes a similar offer as the Flexible Grants & Investments Program. The pages give different grant sizes, so confirm the amount on the programme's own page.

Accelerator and Eco Champions

The EarthON Accelerator is described as the engine of the Fund. It is built to discover, nurture and connect high-potential eco-champions through thematic challenges, bootcamps and hands-on mentorship.

The Eco Champions Programme is a 10-month initiative for founders from climate-vulnerable regions and from high-impact, low-access geographical areas. Its support includes non-dilutive funds for each changemaker and agency-led services in communications and finance. It includes a three-day residential bootcamp in rural locations across the country. The programme page gives 30 to 35 participants per bootcamp, while a Nadia event page gives 60, so check the size of the edition you would attend. A past bootcamp at Vishwa Yuvak Kendra in New Delhi brought together 32 founders.

Greenovation challenges

Greenovation is the foundation's series of thematic challenges, each with its own focus. Most offer prizes or awards, and some add a route to investment.

The Renewable Energy for Livelihood challenge identifies, supports and scales clean energy innovations that are affordable, contextually relevant and built for India's most underserved rural and peri-urban communities. Winners receive non-dilutive award funding.

The Circularity challenge calls on startups, social enterprises and innovators building India's circular economy. Its prize pool is paired with follow-on investment support through the EarthON Blended Finance Platform and the GreenovatiON Fund.

The Agri Mechanization challenge calls on startups, SMEs, innovators and farmer producer companies (FPCs). It offers prize money, equity for startups, and funding for FPCs.

The Urban Climate Resilience challenge is designed to identify, support and scale affordable, contextually relevant innovations for urban India. It offers cash awards and a chance to secure equity or debt investment.

The Green Steel challenge sources innovations and proofs-of-concept that can be piloted in live industrial settings, which it describes as an ideal environment for pilots. Its cash prizes are set by category, including innovator and research and development categories, and it adds support for pilot project implementation.

The Agrivoltaics challenge aims to generate evidence on how agrivoltaic technologies can benefit farmers in India, by advancing climate-resilient agriculture alongside clean energy generation. Winners receive funding, and a larger grant pool is available for implementation and scaling.

The EarthON Greenovation Bootcamp is an immersive residential accelerator for founders building innovative solutions in climate action, sustainability and livelihoods. Its cash prize is non-dilutive, with a route to equity or debt investment. Travel support is scaled by how far a founder travels. Its application last date was 10 August 2026.

TapovON and the learning platform

Select founders are invited to TapovON, the foundation's retreat and learning centre in the rural heartland of Hanskhali, Nadia, West Bengal. The model page lists unrestricted grants for NGO founders and equity investment for for-profit ventures.

The EarthON Academy is a learning and mentorship platform designed to strengthen leadership, fundraising and institution-building skills among emerging entrepreneurs and organisations. The Vasudha Dialogues are a convening series on unlocking domestic philanthropy and investment for grassroots innovators in renewable energy, regenerative agriculture, waste management and sustainable livelihoods.

Scale

The homepage says the foundation has accelerated 400+ startups and 100+ farmer producer companies across 9+ sectors. Its bootcamp section gives a different startup count: 120+ startups across 18 states, from four cohorts that engaged 80+ NGOs and rural enterprises. The two startup counts disagree, so both are shown. The same homepage says the challenges have attracted 5,000+ applications.