New fundAug 27, 2026, 02:16 UTC

The/Nudge launches ₹250 crore fund to back early-stage impact startups

What's the deal? The/Nudge Foundation has launched TILT, its first impact investment platform, with a corpus of ₹250 crore to fund science and technology-led businesses in India. It will invest at the seed to Series A stages, writing cheques of ₹2 crore to ₹16 crore.

Who's backing it? The fund draws support from the Livelihood Impact Fund, alongside entrepreneurs and investors including Deep Kalra (MakeMyTrip), Amit Gupta (Yulu), Hari Menon (BigBasket), Binny Bansal (Flipkart), Vidit Aatrey (Meesho), and the Raj & Indra Nooyi Family Office.

Why now? The/Nudge has spent eight years backing more than 190 social enterprises and deploying about ₹180 crore in grants. As those ventures moved from validation to scale, it said many needed patient, impact-first capital rather than philanthropy alone.

Where will the money go? TILT will target agricultural value chains, climate resilience, informal work, MSME productivity, employability, financial inclusion, distribution, and AI applied to livelihood challenges. It will also fund research, market development, and ecosystem infrastructure.

What's the endgame? "Over the next 15 years, we aim to back 150+ startups and meaningfully improve 100 million lives," said Atul Satija, managing partner and founder of TILT. Co-founder and managing partner Richa Singh said the focus is on "backing founders early, giving them the time to build resilient models."

The signal: TILT points to a widening space between grant funding and traditional venture capital in India, where impact-focused ventures aimed at the country's "Next Billion" often struggle to raise early-stage money. The/Nudge is betting that capital built around those realities can scale where philanthropy stops.