Kotak BizLabs 3rd Edition Expands National Footprint, Will Support 100+ Startups

IIM Calcutta Innovation Park joins Kotak’s flagship CSR initiative as an incubator partner, extending its reach across eastern and north-eastern India

Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. (“KMBL” / “Kotak”) today announced Season 3 of the Kotak BizLabs Accelerator Programme, its flagship CSR initiative for early-revenue-stage startups. The third edition (August 2027 to October 2027) is designed to provide support to 100+ startups across India through mentorship, ecosystem access and catalytic funding.

The third edition brings together five incubation partners: IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, CIIE Initiatives (IIMA Ventures), NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore, T-Hub and FITT at IIT Delhi.

Since its inception, the Kotak BizLabs Accelerator Programme has received 4,500+ applications from startups across India, accelerated 125+ high-potential ventures, and awarded grants to 100+ startups, enabling founders to scale innovative and impact-driven solutions.

“The third edition takes high-calibre support to regions where entrepreneurs with promising ideas often lack access to structured ecosystem support. Our partnership with IIM Calcutta Innovation Park extends our reach across eastern and north-eastern India and connects Kotak BizLabs with a wider network of regional startup hubs. Our goal is to give every participating startup access to the mentorship, networks and funding support it needs to take its next step,” said Himanshu Nivsarkar, Head – CSR & ESG, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.

The latest edition will focus on sectors like Agritech, Climate tech, Fintech, Sustainability, Healthtech, Edtech, Clean energy, Waste management and Sustainable manufacturing and have a special focus on deep-tech. Across the five incubation hubs, participating startups will receive access to mentorship, industry connections and growth support, with the respective incubators managing cohort selection and acceleration.

Ajay Jain, Chairman, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park Board, said, “IIMCIP has always prioritized impact first entrepreneurial endeavours and with that in mind, we are very pleased to partner with Kotak Mahindra Bank in enabling their CSR objectives. India has no dearth of aspiring entrepreneurs with solutions that can address our most pressing economic, environmental and social challenges – what they need is a strong ecosystem to support them. It is initiatives such as the Kotak BizLabs Accelerator Programme that play an important role in building the next generation of entrepreneurs, who in turn create livelihoods and take us closer to Viksit Bharat goals.”

The Kotak BizLabs Accelerator Programme is a CSR initiative of Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited.

Applications are now open to DPIIT-recognised startups. Eligible startups can apply through the 3 application page.

https://iimcip.org/kotak-bizlabs/

About Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited

Established in 1985, Kotak Mahindra Group is one of India's leading diversified and integrated financial services conglomerates, providing a wide range of financial solutions across customer and geographic segments. The Group strives to deliver value for its key stakeholders – customers, company, colleagues, and the larger community – through an overarching focus on “Doing it Right by the Customer”. The Group offers products across banking and lending, capital markets, asset management, and protection, enabling it to serve its customers across every spectrum of their financial needs. As on 30th June 2026, the Group has a national footprint of 5,916 branches and ₹ 10.1 trillion Consolidated Balance Sheet.

For more information, please visit the company’s website at https://www.kotak.in/

About IIM Calcutta Innovation Park

The IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP) is a not-for-profit (Section 8) company established under the aegis of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in India. Recognised by the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, IIMCIP’s mission is to nurture innovative, socially impactful entrepreneurs who can drive inclusive growth.

Its core offerings span structured mentoring, capacity building, seed funding and access to markets and investors. To date, IIMCIP has supported over 2,000 startups and seed-funded 136 ventures, which have collectively raised more than ₹2,000 crore and built a cumulative portfolio valuation of nearly ₹8,000 crore.

IIMCIP also works closely with government bodies, corporates and academia to strengthen India’s innovation ecosystem, foster high-impact collaborations and promote women’s entrepreneurship, with a special focus on underserved regions of the country.

SBI Foundation and NSRCEL Launch 2nd Cohort of iCube to Build Stronger Incubation Ecosystems Across India

• Empower Regional Incubators Through the Incubating Incubators (iCube) Initiative

As India's startup ecosystem continues to mature, the need for stronger, more capable incubation ecosystems has never been greater. Recognising that sustainable startup growth depends on the strength of the institutions supporting entrepreneurs, NSRCEL, the startup hub at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM Bangalore), in partnership with SBI Foundation under its Innovators for Bharat initiative, has launched the second cohort of its Incubating Incubators (iCube) Initiative. The program is designed to build institutional capacity by enabling incubators across the country to strengthen their capabilities, adopt best practices, and create lasting impact within their regional innovation ecosystems.

The second cohort brings together three emerging incubation partners - AIC MAGIC (Marathwada Accelerator for Growth & Incubation Council) an initiative by CMIA (Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture), Incubation Centre, IIT Patna (IC IIT Patna), and The Tripura Institution for Transformation (TIFT), representing diverse innovation ecosystems across India. By participating in the iCube program, the cohort will be a part of the partnership ecosystem at NSRCEL, providing them with deeper institutional engagement, access to specialised resources, and an extended pool of mentors and experts.

The launch of the second cohort also aligns with the broader vision of government ministries and departments like NITI Aayog, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), DST ( Department of Science and Technology) and MeitY(Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India) through MeitY Startup Hub which has consistently championed capacity building as a cornerstone of India's innovation ecosystem. Through its Human Capability Development (HCD) initiatives, AIM focuses on strengthening the capabilities of incubator managers, ecosystem enablers, mentors, and innovation professionals by equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and leadership required to build high-performing incubation ecosystems. By fostering structured learning, peer exchange, and practitioner-led capacity building, AIM aims to professionalise incubation practices and strengthen the institutions that enable entrepreneurship across the country.

Unlike traditional startup incubation programs that focus directly on entrepreneurs, iCube adopts a multiplier approach by strengthening the institutions that nurture startups. Through structured learning, peer-to-peer engagement, strategic mentoring, governance frameworks, and operational best practices, the initiative aims to enable incubators to become stronger anchors of regional innovation.

Participants will gain access to NSRCEL's extensive incubation ecosystem, including its network of over 110 mentors, Industry connect programs, curated learning modules, institutional tools, strategic frameworks, and knowledge-sharing sessions. The program also facilitates collaborative learning among incubators, enabling them to exchange experiences, adapt successful models to their regional contexts, and build resilient institutions that can support founders more effectively.

Mr. Subhadip Mondal, Team Lead – LEAP, SBI Foundation said "At SBI Foundation, through our Livelihood and Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (LEAP), we are committed to strengthening the foundations that enable entrepreneurship and innovation to thrive across India. Innovators for Bharat is a key part of this vision, with a focus on strengthening incubation ecosystems and enabling institutions to nurture entrepreneurs beyond metropolitan hubs. We believe that by equipping incubation centres with the right capabilities, resources and networks, we can unlock the immense potential of regional innovators and help ideas from across India translate into meaningful opportunities. Our partnership with NSRCEL through iCube reflects this shared vision of building a more inclusive and resilient innovation ecosystem that creates lasting impact for startups, communities and the nation’s economic growth."

Addressing the launch, Rasika Prashant, CEO, NSRCEL, remarked: “With the Indian startup ecosystem growing, the next challenge is not the addition of more incubators, but the creation of robust incubators. Each region has its own issues, opportunities, regulations, and entrepreneurship scenario that makes it necessary for us to build contextualised incubation models rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach. With the iCube initiative, we are creating a community of collaboration wherein incubators can learn from each other and build institutional capacity to help better founders, startups, and regional innovation ecosystems"

The second cohort builds on the learnings from iCube Cohort 1, which reaffirmed that every incubator requires a tailored approach based on its geography, governance structure, sectoral focus, and local entrepreneurial ecosystem. The new cohort places greater emphasis on institutional reflection, strategic development, contextual problem-solving, and peer-driven learning while providing participating incubators with deeper access to NSRCEL's experience, knowledge, mentors, and ecosystem resources.

Representing one of the participating institutions, Dr. Kumar Siddharth Singh, Chief Manager, BioNEST, Incubation Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Patna, said: "Even after a decade of building an incubation ecosystem, we believe institutions must continuously evolve. Programs like iCube encourage honest reflection, help us identify gaps, and provide opportunities to learn from experienced peers. Strong incubators are built by constantly adapting, and we are excited to be part of a collaborative platform that enables exactly that."

By strengthening incubators, the initiative aims to create a ripple effect across India's entrepreneurial landscape. Better-equipped incubation institutions will be able to support more founders, enable stronger startups, generate quality employment, and contribute meaningfully to building vibrant regional innovation ecosystems that drive long-term economic growth.

BITS Pilani's BITSoM Launches VERTEX AI Incubator With LENZ to Scale India’s Next 100 AI Startups

• Partnering with Silicon Valley’s LENZ, this industry-led incubator is launching a nationwide search to help high-potential founders move from Ideas to MVP to enterprise pilots.

BITS School of Management (BITSoM), under the aegis of BITS Pilani, today unveils BITSoM VERTEX, a premier AI incubator developed in partnership with LENZ, a leading Silicon Valley AI Innovation Studio. The incubator is designed to catapult emerging AI startups into high-growth, enterprise-ready AI businesses. To kick-start this journey, BITSoM is partnering with Hack2Skill to launch a nationwide search for India's most promising AI founders. Through this initiative, BITSoM will support founders in moving beyond MVPs to build enterprise-validated, highly scalable AI products and businesses.

India has rapidly emerged as one of the world's fastest-growing AI innovation hubs, powered by world-class technical talent and a vibrant startup culture. However, early-stage AI founders often hit a bottleneck when transitioning from a promising Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to commercial viability. Critical growth barriers include securing enterprise pilot opportunities, separating AI products from AI wrappers, validating market demand, refining business models, , and preparing for institutional investment. BITSoM VERTEX was specifically designed to solve these exact friction points.

Over the next three years, the incubator aims to graduate 100 AI startups through its structured incubation programme. To achieve this, the program provides comprehensive resources tailored to early-stage acceleration. Selected startups will gain access to Silicon Valley expertise, venture-building mentorship, and global frameworks through LENZ. To ensure commercial validation, the incubator offers dedicated pathways to enterprise pilot opportunities and real-world customer testing. Furthermore, founders will benefit from investor networks, funding pathways, and state-of-the-art AI infrastructure, alongside dedicated student venture teams from BITSoM who will work directly with startups on business development and market research.

"Artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping industries and redefining how businesses operate," said Prof. Saravanan Kesavan, Dean and Professor of Operations, BITSoM. "As a business school preparing tomorrow's leaders, our role extends beyond classroom education to actively fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. Through BITSoM VERTEX, we are creating a powerful ecosystem where founders can learn from seasoned business leaders, collaborate closely with industry partners, and build companies that solve meaningful, real-world problems. Moreover, our students will get an unparalleled opportunity to work very closely with founders and play a pivotal role in the growth of early-stage AI ventures. This experiential journey, will prepare them to build with AI or even start their own AI companies."

"India needs more global AI startups like Sarvam and Emergent. BITSoM VERTEX seeks such AI entrepreneurs who have the relentless desire to solve local AI problems that have a global scale" added Arvind Ravishunkar, Managing Director, BITSoM VERTEX. " With 5+million software engineers, a leading digital finance ecosystem and a captive 1.4M demand, India is ripe to participate in meaningful AI innovation. Through BITSoM VERTEX, we want to give founders immediate access to customers, talent, and resources that can help them scale faster. "

We welcome applications from AI startups across all domains and emerging AI technologies. However, given India's national priorities and AI technology maturity, we have identified key areas where our expertise and resources can drive maximum impact : enterprise AI, software automation and tools, vertical AI, multilingual AI, edtech AI and financial AI.

Applications for the inaugural cohort of BITSoM VERTEX are now officially open. Founders from across India who are leveraging AI to solve complex business and societal challenges are invited to apply through the official portal.

For further information, log on to: vertex.bitsom.edu.in

About BITSoM

BITS School of Management (BITSoM) is a new-age global business school under the aegis of BITS Pilani, an Institution of Eminence. Located near Mumbai, BITSoM combines academic rigour with industry engagement to prepare future business leaders for a rapidly changing world. Its MBA programme brings together a globally benchmarked curriculum, distinguished faculty and experiential learning to equip graduates with the skills needed to lead in an AI-driven business environment.