ELEVATE NxT 2026 (Karnataka DeepTech Grant)

Closes 13 Nov 2026 Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka (KITS) Karnataka

Grant

Up to ₹1 crore

What it funds: Grant in aid for deep tech startups from anywhere in India building science based products
Who can apply: Private limited, LLP, partnership or cooperative anywhere in India
Under 20 years old with turnover never above ₹300 crore
Technology at TRL 3 to 8; no ELEVATE grant in the last 3 years
Winners must move their registered office to Karnataka within 4 months
When you can apply: Closes 13 Nov 2026
How to apply: Apply on the ELEVATE portal with two pitch decks; jury rounds and in person pitches follow
Best for: Prototype, Early revenue, Growth stage
Sectors: DeepTech AI/ML SpaceTech Robotics BioTech CleanTech Cybersecurity Hardware
Run by: State governments

Government First Initiative (Karnataka)Work order up to ₹25 lakh Closes 23 Oct 2026
DIV Fund (successor to USAID Development Innovation Ventures)Up to USD 200,000 (pilot), 500,000 (test) or 1.5 million (scale) Open all year
E2E Networks Startup Program (AI Explorer credits)₹5 lakh in AI cloud credits Open all year
ElevenLabs Startup Grants33 million characters for 12 months, over $5,500 in value Open all year
GitHub Secure Open Source FundUSD 10,000 per project Open all year
Global Change Award (H&M Foundation)€200,000 grant for each of 10 winners a year. Closes 6 Nov 2026
Karnataka AVGC-XR Early-Stage Startup SupportUp to ₹5.5 lakh in total (marketing ₹1 lakh, rent ₹2 lakh, servers ₹50,000, legal ₹2 lakh) Open all year