The/Nudge Accelerator supports nonprofit entrepreneurs with a proven model to build resilient livelihoods for India's poorest

We offer up to ₹1 crore and the right support to expedite your scale journey.

Abhishek Gupta

Founder, Navgurukul

Having worked with The/Nudge Incubator and Accelerator for over 4 years now, I can’t reinforce enough on how instrumental The/Nudge has been to our mission of providing Software Engineering employment to young women from rural and tribal India. With the launch of The/Nudge Institute, we can only wish for more power to The/Nudge to do the unthinkable.

Simeen Kaleem

Co-Founder and Director, Gramhal

The/Nudge has brought urgency in the Indian social sector to alleviate poverty within our lifetime. Now, with The/Nudge Institute, it has put the spotlight on the most important lever to do this – livelihoods. I am hopeful that in its unique style, The/Nudge will mobilize resources and forge collaborations across the board to strengthen existing solutions and innovate models around new livelihoods streams.

Grow your impact through

Growth/Scale
grant

We offer a grant of ₹50-100 lakhs, based on your potential to grow your impact and achieve meaningful scale.

Organisational mentoring

Founders as well as leadership team members will receive mentoring and hands-on support for 12-24 months.

Ecosystem
connect

We connect you to a supportive network of funders, experts and administrators who can accelerate your path to scale.

Bootcamps

Face to face & virtual immersion events to facilitate interactions within the cohort, with CSI mentors and The/Nudge CSI ecosystem.

The/Nudge Accelerator in numbers

Our application process

The first round entails filling out an application form wherein you will share details about the problem you are solving, the solution approach, and your team.

Shortlisted applications from Round 1 will be asked to submit a detailed business plan for the next round.

Viability showcase and model impact through a site visit.

Interview with CSI partners.

The first round entails filling out an application form wherein you will share details about the problem you are solving, the solution approach, and your team.

Shortlisted applications from Round 1 will be asked to submit a detailed business plan for the next round.

Viability showcase and model impact through a site visit.

Interview with CSI partners.

Bring your vision to life.

Join The/Nudge Incubator!

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST

Frequently asked questions

No. For The/Nudge Incubator, we prefer an early-stage organisation and require at least one founder to be full-time.
Yes, you can.
Yes, you may re-apply for The/Nudge Incubator if you meet the eligibility criteria. Please highlight your progress since your last application to improve your chances of selection.
We’d prefer that you apply to the appropriate program given the maturity of your organisation (link to who can apply section on the home page). During the selection process, if we feel you are more suitable for another program, we will suggest moving your application to that program.
Our selection process begins with online applications. Shortlisted applicants will be required to submit a detailed business deck (PPT), followed by interviews with The/Nudge Social Entrepreneurship team and CSI partners. Additionally, site visits may be conducted for selection.

The shortlisted applicants from online applications will be requested to submit their startup plans in a presentation format. The startup plans should include answers to the following questions: – What problem are you trying to solve? 

-Why this problem?‍

– What is your solution approach?

-Why do you think this will work?

– Who are your customers/participants?

– How do you reach them or intend to reach them? ‍

– Are there any other nonprofits doing similar work?

– List names and list 1 primary reason you are different from them.

– How would you describe your organisation’s key achievements till now?

– How much money have you raised till now, and how much in the last year?

– What are your impact metrics, and what is your strategy for the next 1, 3, and 5 years?

– What is your operational plan for the next 12 months?

– How would you measure your progress?

– How many full-time employees do you have?

– Describe your core team members and what each brings to the table. If you had ₹2 crore funding available over the next 2 years, how would you use it?

– Can you redefine your strategy (in Q6) based on the availability of this funding?

We offer

– an innovation grant of up to ₹15 lakhs

– hands-on 1:1 mentoring by a CSI partner and focused support on fundraising

– support from the portfolio manager

– connects to potential donors and partners

– access to like-minded alumni network

The deep hands-on support for 9 months includes, – 1:1 mentoring by a CSI partner for a period of 6 months through virtual interactions every two weeks. This helps entrepreneurs achieve strategic clarity and refine their business model. – focused support on fundraising. This helps entrepreneurs achieve clarity on their fundraising strategy and become fundraising-ready. – 1:1 weekly support by the SocEnt portfolio manager as a thought partner and skin-in-the-game collaborator in the success of their incubatees. – face-to-face as well as virtual immersion events, usually held in Bangalore during the various bootcamps. These are designed to help entrepreneurs meet fellow cohort members, immerse in The/Nudge CSI DNA through interactions with some of India’s most admired leaders, forge a bond with The/Nudge SocEnt portfolio manager, and The/Nudge CSI partner assigned to be their mentor and most importantly, to get ready to pitch and fundraising.
While mentoring will happen remotely over telephone/video chat, founders and leadership teams will be required to attend bootcamps in person. These will be opportunities for face-to-face interactions with mentors and will be held in Bangalore.

During the period of support, you will be paired with one of the CSI partners as your strategic mentor, while members of your core team will be introduced to mentors in their own functional areas. The objective of this engagement is to help you achieve key milestones like attaining product market fit, getting the first rounds of funding, building a brand, hiring your team etc., in an accelerated manner. Your partner and mentors will coach you and open doors for you by connecting you to individuals and organisations that can help you in your mission. As field visits are a great way to get the right context, we also encourage you to engage your partners/mentors to visit your customers with you. The accelerator portfolio manager will establish (through face-to-face meetings for pitching your organisation’s work) connections with CSR leaders and representatives of global and domestic philanthropic foundations. In parallel, we will help you with your fundraising strategy and refining your pitch.

The innovation grant is to help you build a minimum viable product for your idea. This involves costs of experimentation such as refining your model based on the interaction with your first beneficiaries and visible impact, costs of building capacity that includes hiring and training early team members, product development, and any other costs compliant with CSR law.
We believe technology has the power to accelerate social development, as tech-enabled products and services can help scale ideas much faster and at an affordable rate. We welcome nonprofits that leverage technology in their product, service or outreach to bring about social change.
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