Surge Impact Foundation

Choosing the right programme

Surge Impact Foundation incubates in two areas. If you are building a climate venture — adaptation, mitigation or climate justice — the Climate Action Entrepreneurship Incubation programme is the one to ask about; it is the only programme the foundation describes as currently running a cohort. If you are an LGBTQIA+ founder, ask about the inclusion programme, which has run twice. If you are an entrepreneur with a disability, or you are building for persons with disabilities, the foundation says it is extending its inclusion work in that direction, so it is worth asking whether an intake exists yet.

The Climate Changemakers Fellowship is a leadership programme for individuals rather than a venture intake, and has run only as a pilot. The AI and digital skilling programmes are training, not incubation.

How applications work

There is no application form, portal, open call or deadline anywhere on the foundation's site. The only route in is to write to it. Its partners page says plainly: apply to our incubation programs or write to us. Use the general inbox, sif@surgeimpact.org.

Because nothing is published about intake timing, your first email should ask two practical questions: whether a cohort is currently open, and when the next one is expected. Do not assume a rolling intake.

What to put in your first email

Keep it short and concrete. Say what you are building, which of the foundation's focus areas it sits in, what stage you are at, and where in India you work. The climate page says the foundation backs founders anywhere in India, so location is not a filter, but naming it helps.

Lead with the social or environmental outcome, not the technology. Everything the foundation publishes is organised around impact — lives reached, jobs created, communities served — so evidence that you can point at a real outcome, even a small one, will read better than a product description.

How selection works

The foundation publishes no selection criteria, no scoring and no process. Its stated approach begins with discovering people and ideas with real potential for impact, and its support is coaching, mentorship, network access and funding through the early stages. Expect a conversation rather than a form-driven assessment, and expect to be asked about the founder as much as the venture.

What to check before you commit

Ask directly what the programme costs, how long a cohort runs, whether it is online or in person, and whether the foundation takes any equity — none of this is stated on its site. Ask what funding, if any, comes with a place, and on what terms. Ask how many places a cohort has: the cohorts described so far have been small.

If the foundation's recognition as an incubator in Telangana matters to you, ask which department or scheme recognises it, since the site does not say.

Surge Impact Foundation (SIF) is a non-profit in Hyderabad, Telangana, registered as a Section 8 company and working since 2017. It runs its own incubation cohorts for social entrepreneurs, alongside skilling programmes and social programmes it delivers for corporate, government and philanthropic partners. Its stated mission is to enable individuals and institutions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals through innovation, entrepreneurship, collaboration and capacity building.

The foundation organises its work into three focus areas: climate action, diversity and inclusion, and AI and digital skilling. The first two are where it incubates founders. It describes its method as five steps — find the people and ideas with real potential, coach and mentor and fund them through the early stages, open its network of corporates, governments and experts, build the skills and systems that make ventures last, and help proven solutions reach more people and places.

How programmes work

The flagship is the Climate Action Entrepreneurship Incubation programme, for early-stage ventures working on climate adaptation, mitigation and climate justice. Two cohorts have finished and a third is under way, with 17 entrepreneurs from across India supported so far. Participants get personalised coaching, expert mentorship, leadership development, peer learning, and access to a growing network of advisors and partners.

Alongside it, the Climate Changemakers Fellowship is a leadership programme for emerging climate leaders, built around expert-led learning, field immersions, systems thinking and collaborative problem-solving. It has run once, as a pilot with six fellows.

Under diversity and inclusion, SIF has run an incubation programme for LGBTQIA+ founders across two cohorts, supporting 14 entrepreneurs with leadership coaching, mentorship, enterprise development, peer learning and access to funding. The foundation calls it one of India's earliest dedicated incubation programmes for LGBTQIA+ founders, and says it is now extending the work to entrepreneurs with disabilities and to innovators building for persons with disabilities.

Its AI and digital skilling work is training rather than incubation. An AI and digital storytelling programme has trained 161 women in Hyderabad — college students, aspiring entrepreneurs and micro-entrepreneurs — in AI-assisted content creation, digital storytelling, mobile videography and responsible use of AI. A separate pilot taught 14 young people from marginalised communities storytelling, filmmaking and digital communication.

Who can apply

SIF does not publish an application form, an open call or a deadline for any of its programmes. Its pages tell founders to write in: "Building something that matters? Apply to our incubation programs or write to us — we read everything." The only eligibility sentence anywhere on the site is on the climate page, which says the foundation backs founders in adaptation, mitigation and climate justice, anywhere in India. No incorporation requirement, revenue threshold, age limit or state restriction is stated, and no selection process is described. Anyone considering applying should email the foundation and ask what the next cohort looks like.

All of the work described on the site is in India. The foundation's mission refers to the Sustainable Development Goals, but it makes no claim to run programmes outside India.

Facilities

SIF names no physical facilities. There is no incubation space, coworking space or laboratory on its site, and its only stated location is an office in Hyderabad. What it offers is coaching, mentorship, peer cohorts, network access and early-stage funding support, delivered as programmes rather than as space and equipment.

Scale

The foundation reports supporting 68 social ventures whose work has touched more than 15 lakh people across India. Within that, it counts 17 climate entrepreneurs, whose ventures it says have reached over 1,04,930 people and created 187 jobs, and 14 LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs, whose ventures it credits with 88 jobs. It reports 175 or more people trained in AI and digital skills. These are the foundation's own figures and carry no date.

It separately says it set up the Atal Incubation Centre at IIIT Hyderabad, and counts that centre's 38 startups as a distinct line rather than folding them into its own total.

From 2018 to 2022 SIF served as the project management unit of the Telangana Social Impact Group, the CSR cell of the Department of Industries, Government of Telangana. It describes that chapter as closed. It states that it is certified under 80G, so Indian donors receive tax benefits, and that it is FCRA-registered and so eligible to receive foreign contributions. It also describes itself, in one sentence on its about page, as a recognised incubator in Telangana, without naming the department, scheme or registry behind that recognition.

Who runs it

Roshan Dsouza is chief executive officer; he was previously associate director at UnLtd India. Raj Janagam is co-founder and director, and is described as the founder of the Atal Incubation Centre at IIIT Hyderabad and of UnLtd Hyderabad, and a co-founder of the Telangana Social Impact Group. The entrepreneur Srikanth Bolla and the board members Manasa Varanasi and Kavitha Mantha complete the board. A small staff team covers programmes, partnerships and finance, supported by three named expert consultants.

Locations and contact

Surge Impact Foundation works from Hyderabad, Telangana, and publishes no other office. It gives no street address. The foundation can be reached by email at sif@surgeimpact.org or by phone, and it is on LinkedIn and Instagram. Its partner list names corporates including IBM, HSBC, Dr. Reddy's, Novartis, Deloitte, State Street, ITC and Amazon; foundations including Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives, The Deverakonda Foundation and UNICEF; the Telangana Department of Industries and Department of Employment and Training; and ecosystem partners including IIIT Hyderabad, Nirmaan Organisation, Make Soil and Peepal Waste Managers. There is no careers page and no events page on the site.