Jubilant Bhartia Foundation scales up social-impact startup push, aims to incubate 200 ventures by 2030

Jubilant Bhartia Foundation (JBF), the philanthropic arm of the Jubilant Bhartia Group, which owns the Domino’s master franchise in India, is scaling up its support for social-impact startups through its “BHARAT IMPACT” initiative. The initiative combines funding with mentorship, investor access and potential business linkages with group companies.

At the centre of the initiative is Impact Quest, JBF’s incubation and accelerator programme for startups working on social and environmental challenges. The programme, run in partnership with IIM Ahmedabad Ventures and the Schwab Foundation, a sister organisation of the World Economic Forum, provides selected startups with grants, mentorship, expert guidance and access to the Jubilant ecosystem, including potential opportunities to work with group companies.

The programme has so far incubated 44 startups and disbursed around ₹3 crore in grants, Vivek Prakash, SVP & Head, Jubilant Bhartia Foundation, told Fortune India. “JBF plans to incubate 200 startups between 2025 and 2030, with at least half of them expected to emerge as successful ventures,” he added.

The foundation is positioning the initiative as more than a conventional grant or incubation programme. Its focus is on helping founders validate their ideas, refine business models, identify use cases and develop clearer propositions for customers and investors.

“India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem has immense potential to create solutions that are not only innovative but also address some of society’s most pressing challenges,” Shyam S. Bhartia, Founder and Chairman, and Hari S. Bhartia, Founder and Co-Chairman, Jubilant Bhartia Group, said.

“Through Impact Quest 3.0, we are bringing together promising entrepreneurs and providing them with the capital, mentorship, market access and ecosystem support required to turn their ideas into scalable, sustainable enterprises,” they said.

JBF’s expansion comes against the backdrop of a funding and commercialisation gap faced by many social-impact startups. While such ventures may have solutions addressing large social or environmental problems, they often struggle in the early stages to establish predictable revenues, validate their products and demonstrate scalability to investors.

The foundation believes that a corporate ecosystem can help bridge this gap by providing startups with access to potential customers, industry expertise and real-world use cases. The experience of founders participating in the programme also highlights the value of this support beyond funding.

From capital to market validation

For Battery Flow Technologies founder Md Nashim Akhtar, access to the Jubilant ecosystem has proved more valuable than funding alone. The startup is building a data and commerce platform for battery-powered assets, focused on battery identity, lifecycle traceability and energy-storage ecosystems.

“Funding, I believe, is not the primary factor because capital is abundant if you have the right business model. Finding a use case and finding the validation of your product is far more important,” Akhtar said. The programme helped the first-time founders challenge their assumptions, prioritise business goals and explore potential use cases with Jubilant partners.

For ENGN-F1 co-founder Sarthak Chakraborty, the programme helped translate complex technology into a clearer business proposition. The AI/ML startup is developing a real-time intelligence platform for industrial, defence, power and healthcare applications.

“Technology, we cannot communicate technology. We cannot just say that we are doing technology and people will understand. You have to make them understand in some ways,” Chakraborty said. He said the mentorship helped the team communicate its technology more clearly, identify relevant markets and build a stronger narrative for customers and investors.

For Immunyfit Healthtech co-founder Sudeep Suru, the focus was similarly on simplifying a deep-tech proposition. The Hyderabad-based startup uses AI and systems biology for the early assessment and management of immune-mediated disorders.

“As a deep-tech owner, when I came to this programme, I started interacting. It got my foot grounded again and helped me simplify my discussion,” Suru said.

Akash Bisoyi, founder of Odisha-based MatiMitra Carbon Solutions, joined the programme while preparing to raise capital. The startup converts agricultural residue into biochar to improve soil health and water retention while creating an additional income opportunity for farmers.

“Although I thought that I technically know everything about my business, if I’m not able to communicate the same to you, then it’s of no use ultimately,” Bisoyi said.

For these founders, the programme’s value extends beyond grants, helping them sharpen their narratives, validate use cases, understand investor expectations and build connections across the corporate and startup ecosystem.

Prakash said JBF’s objective is to build an ecosystem where social enterprises can access not only capital but also the capabilities and networks required to build sustainable businesses.