Agropak Bags ₹31.4 Lakh Non-Dilutive Grant at SusCrunch 2026; Zerodha, 3one4 Capital, Reliance Join Climate Push
The Sustainability Mafia (SusMafia) has awarded India's largest non-dilutive grant for early-stage climate startups, the ₹31.4 lakh Big Pi Grant, to Agropak, a biotech startup developing a natural fibre materials platform that creates premium bio-based packaging solutions for the beauty and personal care industry. The grant was presented at the third edition of SusCrunch 2026 and aims to help promising climate startups accelerate innovation, commercial validation and market adoption without diluting founder equity.
In addition to the ₹31.4 lakh grant, Agropak will receive mentorship, strategic guidance, access to incubators and government programmes, and continued support through SusMafia's investor, fellowship and grant ecosystem. The grant amount derives its name from the mathematical constant π (3.14), symbolising bold thinking and breakthrough innovation.
The third edition of SusCrunch also witnessed participation from leading investors including Zerodha and 3one4 Capital, alongside corporates such as Reliance, Biocon, Zomato and Apollo Hospitals, reflecting the growing interest among investors and industry leaders in partnering with climate startups to accelerate sustainable innovation and commercial deployment.
The announcement comes at a crucial time for climate innovation. According to the Tracxn India Climate Tech 2026 Report, India's climate-tech ecosystem has attracted nearly US$12.8 billion in funding across 1,583 startups between 2008 and June 2026, reflecting growing investor confidence in sectors such as clean energy, circular economy, sustainable agriculture and climate resilience. However, the State of Climate Tech 2025 report notes that global early-stage climate funding has fallen to a five-year low, making non-dilutive grants increasingly important for helping startups bridge the gap between research, pilot projects and commercial scale.
Jointly supported by SusMafia and the BITS Pilani PIEDS Accelerator, the Big Pi Grant received over 50 curated applications from founders across the BITS Pilani, IIT and broader startup ecosystem through the SusVentures network. Five startups working across water and waste management, climate intelligence, sustainable materials and the built environment were shortlisted after multiple evaluation rounds based on innovation, founder-market fit, climate impact, validation and scalability, with Agropak emerging as the winner.
The impact of the Big Pi Grant is already visible across previous recipients. BioCompute, the 2024 winner, has since established laboratory infrastructure, conducted thousands of experiments, expanded into the Bay Area and raised over ₹5 crore from investors including WTF Fund, Grad Capital and 1517 Fund. Bisket Labs, which received the grant in 2025, subsequently secured the Karnataka Government's ELEVATE Grant, demonstrating how early-stage non-dilutive funding can help climate startups unlock larger funding opportunities and accelerate growth.
Commenting on the initiative, Mr. Ganesh Shankar, Co-founder of The Sustainability Mafia and Founder of FluxGen, said, "Every founder needs access to business, capital and talent. No founder can build all three alone."
Founded as a founder-led climate community, The Sustainability Mafia has grown into a network of 84 active climate founders, known as Mafiosos, and more than 700 Climate Ninjas. According to the organisation, startups within its community have collectively raised over US$350 million, employ more than 3,000 people, generate ₹2,100 crore in annual revenue, divert over 363,000 tonnes of waste from landfills and mitigate approximately 1.56 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent annually.
Neeraj Jain, Co-founder, Solar Square, a Series C Rooftop Solar company with over USD 100M funding, said, “SusMafia community feels like the start of a movement”, as he joined Ashish Goel, Founder, Urban Ladder & Optimist and investor in 30+ startups, for a Climate Sitdown conversation.
As India advances towards its net-zero ambitions, strengthening the climate innovation ecosystem will require more than venture capital alone. Early-stage grants, founder communities, industry partnerships and access to markets are increasingly critical in helping breakthrough technologies move from laboratories to commercial deployment. Through initiatives such as the Big Pi Grant, The Sustainability Mafia aims to enable the next generation of climate entrepreneurs with the capital, mentorship and ecosystem support needed to build scalable climate solutions.
