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Schaeffler Social Innovator Fellowship
Identifying and supporting India's most promising social innovators through grant funding, mentorship, and ecosystem access.
Background
India is home to thousands of entrepreneurs building innovative solutions to address critical social and developmental challenges. While many of these ventures demonstrate strong potential, access to structured mentorship, catalytic funding, industry networks, and ecosystem support remains limited—particularly for founders from Tier II, Tier III, and rural India.
The Schaeffler India Social Innovator Fellowship 2026 aims to bridge this gap by identifying and supporting high-potential social innovators through a structured fellowship that combines grant funding, capacity building, mentorship, and ecosystem access.
Program Vision
To build a national platform that identifies, nurtures, and accelerates India's most promising social innovators creating sustainable solutions to pressing development challenges.
Program Objectives
Identify and support 10 high-potential social innovators from across India.
Enable founders through structured capacity building and expert mentorship.
Provide catalytic grant support to accelerate solution development and deployment.
Increase participation from Tier II, Tier III, and rural innovators.
Build long-term impact through post-program monitoring and alumni engagement.
Create a scalable model for social innovation that can be replicated across future cohorts.
Quick Facts
Launch Date
15th July 2026
Fellows Selected
10 innovators
Duration
8 months
Focus
Social impact ventures
Ready to Apply?
Join the fellowship and accelerate your social innovation journey.
Apply for FellowshipFocus Sectors
Healthcare
Agriculture
Education
Sanitation & WASH
Clean Energy
Livelihoods
Manufacturing Safety
Mobility
Environment & Sustainability
Social Innovation, AI & Robotics
Who Can Apply
The fellowship is designed for early-stage ventures that have moved beyond the idea stage and are demonstrating initial market validation. Applicants should ideally have:
A working MVP or validated solution
Early customer or beneficiary validation
Pilot deployments, partnerships, or early traction
A committed founding team
Potential for scale and measurable social impact
Program Structure
The fellowship follows a structured eight-month journey.
Outreach & Selection
National Call for Applications
Outreach across incubators, universities, NGOs, and ecosystem partners
Application screening
Multi-stage evaluation
Expert jury assessment
Selection of Top 10 Fellows
Demo Day
Fellowship Journey
Fellowship Grant Support
Residential learning modules
Expert mentorship
One-on-one business advisory
Investor readiness support
Network introductions
Peer learning opportunities
Post Fellowship
Impact tracking
Alumni engagement
Ecosystem introductions
Investor connect
Long-term reporting and knowledge sharing
Program Support
Grant funding
Structured accelerator curriculum
Industry mentors
Subject matter experts
Investor exposure
Corporate ecosystem access
Peer founder community
National visibility
Evaluation Framework
Applications will be assessed through a transparent multi-stage evaluation based on:
Problem significance
Innovation
Product-market fit
Market readiness
Go-to-market strategy
Team capability
Traction
Scalability
Validation
Social impact potential
Expected Outcomes
Support 10 high-potential ventures
Build scalable impact businesses
Strengthen innovation in underserved regions
Improve founder capabilities
Generate measurable social outcomes
Enable access to future funding opportunities
Establish a long-term alumni network
Ready to Apply?
Join the fellowship and accelerate your social innovation journey.