Over ₹2.5 crore in grants enabled and 100+ partnerships unlocked for deep tech startups across editions
New Delhi, Mar 31: – Avaana Capital, in partnership with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Startup India initiative, has announced the launch of the third edition of the Avaana – Startup India Grand Challenge for Deep Tech Innovation 2025-26.
The Grand Challenge platform identifies and empowers the next generation of deep tech entrepreneurs building frontier innovation for India’s most critical strategic imperatives – driving economic resilience, innovation-led growth, and global competitiveness. Over the years, the platform has brought together startups, industry leaders, investors, policymakers, and academic institutions to encourage innovation and technology-led growth in the country. The programme was co-created with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and NITI Aayog Atal Innovation Mission and has received continued support from government ministries and nodal agencies like the Department of Science and Technology, MeitY Startup Hub, BIRAC, IN-SPACe and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Across editions, the programme has also been supported by leading corporations such as IDFC FIRST Bank, Nestle, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Chemicals Limited, TDK Ventures, Lodha Group, NetApp Excellerator, Google for Developers, and Amazon Web Services, and distinguished research institutes, incubators and subject matter experts, including NSRCEL (IIM Bangalore), IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, IKP Eden, T-Hub, GEAPP, RMI, CEEW, C-CAMP, iCreate and the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission, among others.
Across two successful editions, the initiative has received more than 1,000 applications from across 22 Indian states. The programme has enabled over ₹2.5 crore in non-dilutive grants and unlocked several strategic partnerships to help winning startups gain access to mentorship from industry experts, pilot opportunities, co-development programmes, and pathways to follow-on funding.
Dr Sumeet Kumar Jarangal, Director, DPIIT, said, “Platforms such as the Grand Challenge play a critical role in nurturing the next generation of globally competitive deep-tech startups emerging from India. DPIIT remains committed to anchoring such initiatives, ensuring that entrepreneurs working at the frontiers of technology receive timely, targeted, and sustained ecosystem support. These efforts are integral to building innovation capacity in sectors of national importance and positioning India as a global leader in deep technology.”
Commenting on this, Anjali Bansal, Founding Partner, Avaana Capital, said, “We launched the Grand Challenge three years ago in partnership with Startup India and NITI Aayog AIM with a clear ambition to build a structured, high-impact platform that identifies and accelerates early-stage frontier innovation capable of transforming critical sectors and advancing India’s goals of innovation-led growth and strategic resilience. From the outset, policy stakeholders such as the Department of Science and Technology and BIRAC have been key collaborators in this journey, helping deepen the programme’s reach and impact. Now in its third edition, the programme has evolved into one of India’s largest deep tech initiatives, made possible by the commitment of our programme partners – across industry, research institutions, capital, policy and ecosystem enablers – and the exceptional calibre of India’s deep tech founders. As we look ahead, we remain focused on strengthening the foundation of India’s deep tech ecosystem by connecting high-potential innovators to the insights, resources, and strategic networks they need to scale with clarity and conviction.”
Winners from the previous edition of the Grand Challenge are building cutting-edge solutions across sectors. CarbonStrong is developing a novel low-carbon binder technology to decarbonise concrete without compromising structural performance; Green Aero Propulsion is building fuel-agnostic, hydrogen-powered gas turbine engines for aerospace, naval, and defence applications; and Nabhdrishti Aerospace is focused on developing fuel-flexible small gas turbines for hybrid electric urban air mobility, UAVs, and decentralised power generation.
“Receiving the Grand Challenge award from the Honourable Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal at Startup Mahakumbh 2025 validated our innovation at a national scale. With the grant/award/support, we launched pilots with marquee concrete producers in 2 cities, letting us validate field performance at scale and conduct durability studies. Winning the Grand Challenge took CarbonStrong’s solution from a promising lab innovation to production-plant proof. The platform’s credibility also helped us win a follow-on grant, accelerating our scale-up. We’d highly recommend other startups apply for the programme,” added Harsh Jain, Co-Founder, CarbonStrong and winner of the 2024-25 edition.
Each year, the Grand Challenge aligns its thematic focus with the most critical national priorities of the country, ensuring that the innovation it identifies and supports is directly relevant to India’s strategic and economic imperatives. The 2025–26 edition will focus on six key areas that are shaping the future of technology and innovation in India. These include energy and mobility, advanced manufacturing and supply chains, space technology, artificial intelligence and automation, biotech and next-generation materials.
This year also introduces a new track called Emerging Pioneers, which is designed for researchers and innovators working at the research stage. Through this track, individuals from leading academic institutions can apply even if their ideas are not yet incorporated as startups.
With the third edition of the Grand Challenge, Avaana Capital aims to further strengthen India’s deep tech ecosystem and support innovators building transformative solutions from India, for the world.
Interested partners and innovators can reach out to the Avaana team to learn more, as the last date to apply is April 2.
