Submissions close on 17 October 2026. IDEAPOOL 2026, the flagship contest of RISE Foundation IISER's Innovation Conclave 2026, is calling individuals and early-stage startups developing sustainable solutions — with ₹2.5 lakh in prize money and incubation support up for grabs.
IDEAPOOL positions itself as a bridge between nascent ideas and market-ready products. Participants get to present their ideas directly to a room of innovators, entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers — the exact mix a sustainability startup needs at the idea stage, when the technology might work but the business model is still a sketch.
The contest is explicitly sustainability-focused, covering the territory where climate, agriculture, environment and health intersect with deployable technology. That focus matters: climate and sustainability startups in India often struggle to find investors who understand both the science and the market, and a platform that curates for sustainability-first judges the pitch on the right terms.
The ₹2.5 lakh prize is meaningful seed money for an idea-stage team, but the incubation support may matter more — lab access, mentorship and a structured path from prototype to pilot are the real bottlenecks for deep-science sustainability ventures. RISE Foundation IISER sits inside the IISER research ecosystem, which gives winners proximity to scientific infrastructure most early teams can't afford.
Founders and student innovators with sustainability ideas still in the lab or on the whiteboard should apply before the 17 October 2026 deadline. An idea-stage pitch competition is one of the few funding doors that opens before you have traction.
Why it matters for founders
Most startup funding rewards traction; IDEAPOOL rewards the idea. For sustainability founders still in research mode, ₹2.5 lakh plus incubation inside an IISER-linked ecosystem is a rare runway-builder. The 17 October deadline is close — if your climate or sustainability concept has been waiting for a stage, this is it.