Marico Innovation Foundation: Investor Profile

The foundation, not the fund

Marico Innovation Foundation (MIF) is a philanthropic institution — not an equity investor and not a fund. Founded in 2003 by noted business leader and philanthropist Harsh Mariwala as the not-for-profit arm of Marico Limited, its mission is to identify disruptive impact innovations in India and increase their chances of success and scale. Its vision: a future where disruptive innovation, guided by social impact, improves lives. Because it is a foundation, there is no fund size to report — MIF deploys mentorship, market access and recognition, not cheques, and takes no equity in the startups it supports.

What it offers: Scale-Up

The flagship programme is Scale-Up, launched in 2016 as a no-equity, rapid acceleration programme. It offers bespoke mentorship to for-profit startups on their INR 1–100 crore annual revenue growth journeys, currently focused on India's urgent challenges in plastic waste management, clean technology and agri-technology. According to MIF's announcements, the programme provides hand-picked innovations with equity-free support, bespoke mentorship, and access to capital and markets — and has supported 50+ innovations over the years. It is non-cohort based, working one-on-one with each innovation.

The awards platform: Indian Innovation Icons

MIF's second pillar is Indian Innovation Icons, previously called the Innovation for India Awards. Launched in 2006, this biennial platform spotlights 'currently hidden, potentially game-changing' Indian innovators, across two categories: Business (for-profit organisations, including startups) and Social (not-for-profits). Applications for the 11th edition — Indian Innovation Icons 2027 — are currently open, with winners to be announced at the Grand Finale in March 2027.

Notable startups from its programmes

• Atomberg Technologies — the first innovation from MIF's portfolio to hit the "soonicorn" milestone, in 2021. Its co-founder Sibabrata Das has credited MIF's Scale-Up with guiding the team through factory-quality, process and operational challenges.
• S4S Technologies — the full-stack solar-powered food-processing platform worked with Scale-Up from 2019 and hit annual revenue of INR 100 crore through mentor-led interventions, including a business pivot from B2C to B2B.
• FY22–23 Scale-Up cohort: Uravu Labs (clean energy, water-from-air), Indra Water (sustainability), Wastelink (food waste to animal feed), Gramcover (rural fintech insurance), New Leaf Dynamic (sustainable refrigeration), GreenPod Labs (post-harvest agri-tech).

Key people

Harsh Mariwala founded MIF and remains its guiding founder; MIF's head is Suranjana Ghosh. Its Governing Council is led by Amit Chandra, Honorary Chairperson (Partner & Chairman, Bain Capital; co-founder, ATE Chandra Foundation), with Dr R. A. Mashelkar as Chairman Emeritus and Dr Ashish Lele (Director, National Chemical Laboratory) also on the council — all as stated on MIF's official site.

How founders apply

Startups apply through MIF's official website, which currently hosts an apply page for the Scale-Up programme. Applications open in windows — at the time of research, Scale-Up entries were closed, with founders able to drop an email address to be notified when the next window opens. The Indian Innovation Icons 2027 edition, by contrast, has applications open now. There is no credit bundle — what founders get is bespoke mentorship, expert networks, investor and corporate introductions, and national recognition.