HDFC Bank to Grant ₹20 Crore to Social Impact Startups Under Parivartan FY26

Ahmedabad | Gujarat — HDFC Bank, India’s leading private sector bank, today announced the launch of the FY26 edition of the Parivartan Start-up Grants programme, its flagship initiative supporting social impact-driven innovations. Building on the learnings from previous years, the programme will support 10 strategic initiatives across priority sectors including climate innovation, agriculture and sustainable livelihoods, manufacturing and MSME innovation, financial inclusion, and gender diversity and inclusion, along with emerging areas including AI and deep technology.

In FY26, HDFC Bank Parivartan will disburse Rs 20 crore through non-dilutive grants, typically enabling pilots, validation, and early-stage scale-up.

The FY26 edition also marks steady progress towards the programme’s 10-year milestone, alongside an expansion of partnerships with incubators associated with reputed institutions across regions.

The Parivartan Start-up Grants programme follows an incubator-led, portfolio-based model, under which partner incubators lead programme design, startup outreach, evaluation, mentoring, monitoring, and impact reporting.

Key Focus Areas in FY26:

Building on insights from earlier editions, the FY26 programme places emphasis on:

• A sharper sector-led approach with institution-mapped focus areas, such as  deep-tech with IIT Madras Incubation Centre, IISC Bangalore-FSID and SINE IIT Bombay,  financial inclusion with IIM Bangalore – NSRCEL and IIM Lucknow Enterprise Incubation Centre, manufacturing accelerator with T-Works, climate innovation with BITS Pilani, and waste management with Villgro Innovation Foundation.
• Ecosystem enablement beyond startup funding, including regional ecosystem development initiatives for the starte of Punjab led by India School of Business (ISB) i-Venture in partnership with Startup Punjab,
• A pan-India incubator capacity-building programme in partnership with the  Indian STEP and Business Incubator Association (ISBA), to be hosted across multiple regions for emerging incubators supported by Department of Science and Technology (DST), DPIIT – Startup India, MeitY Startup Hub, BIRAC and state startup promotion agencies.

Commenting on the announcement, Mr. Kaizad Bharucha, Deputy Managing Director, HDFC Bank, said, “Parivartan Start-up Grants has evolved as a benchmark in the industry that works closely with institutions to support innovation addressing clearly identified social and environmental challenges. As we enter FY26, the focus is on further deepening  sector engagement, strengthening ecosystems, and building institutional capacity to enable startups to receive sustained and structured support.”

Mr. Arup Rakshit, Group Head – Treasury, HDFC Bank, added, “The programme reflects our view that early-stage social impact innovation benefits from strong institutional support that can provide mentorship, networks, and structured support. The FY26 edition builds on this approach, through partnerships with some of India’s leading incubators across climate action, financial inclusion, deep technology, and livelihood-focused sectors, while continuing to expand participation across regions.”

 Since its inception in 2017, the Parivartan Start-up Grants programme has supported 500+ startups, including 87 startups in FY25 alone, through partnerships with more than 130+ incubators across India. Cumulatively, the programme has deployed over ₹85+ crore in grant funding, with nearly 40% of supported startups originating from Tier II and Tier III cities. At a portfolio level, supported startups have raised over ₹900 crore in external funding and~40% startups co-founded by women. In FY25, the programme deployed ₹20 crore across 20 incubation centres under this model.

Applications for the FY26 edition will be routed through partner incubators, who will independently share timelines and application details.