Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. has unveiled Season 2 of its Kotak BizLabs Accelerator Programme, expanding its flagship CSR initiative to support over 75 startups across India through mentorship, market access, and funding opportunities.
The year-long program, scheduled to run from October 2025 to November 2026, will actively collaborate with four leading incubators—IIT Delhi’s Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT), IIMA Ventures, NSRCEL–IIM Bangalore, and T-Hub. Through these strategic partnerships, the initiative will further strengthen its presence across North, South, West, and Central India, ensuring a more inclusive and regionally balanced startup outreach.
Himanshu Nivsarkar, Head of CSR & ESG at Kotak Mahindra Bank, said, “Kotak has always believed in backing the entrepreneurial spirit of India—not just in metros, but in Tier-II and Tier-III cities where innovation is thriving. With Season 2 of the Kotak BizLabs Accelerator Programme, we are scaling our commitment to founders who dare to dream big and build bold.”
This new phase follows a successful debut year, during which the program accelerated 55 startups, offered structured mentorship to emerging entrepreneurs, and distributed ₹5 crore in grants and selective seed funding to 32 ventures. According to Kotak Mahindra Bank, this catalytic capital has helped startups collectively raise over ₹12 crore in follow-on funding.
In the upcoming year, Kotak aims to engage more than 800 startups and fund over 60 ventures, with extensive outreach planned through 20+ cities via roadshows, networking sessions, and workshops.
Anand Sri Ganesh, CEO of NSRCEL, said, “By extending deep mentorship, market access, and catalytic funding to promising startups across diverse sectors, this initiative catalyzes transformative innovation in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.”
Echoing the sentiment, Chintan Bakshi, Partner at IIMA Ventures, stated that the program’s “intensive and structured support” equips founders in smaller cities with access to capital, bootcamps, and local angel investors—“startups leveraging tech to solve some of the toughest social and environmental challenges.”
During its first season, the accelerator supported startups across agritech, climate tech, fintech, edtech, healthcare, sustainability, and indigenous crafts, generating employment and attracting new investments. Season 2 aims to scale that impact by expanding outreach and investment scope.
Kavikrut, CEO of T-Hub, said, “Founders who are building with T-Hub have worked with mentors to refine their growth plans and deployed capital towards creating capabilities. The program has further validated their product–market fit. We are excited to scale this partnership with Kotak.”
Applications for Season 2 are now open to DPIIT-registered startups via the Kotak BizLabs portal.
