Climate change is amplifying the struggles of vulnerable communities across India. Smallholder farmers face erratic weather, droughts, soil degradation and floods that diminish yields and threaten food security. Coastal communities are exposed to rising sea levels and severe storms that erode land and wipe out livelihoods, while tribal communities see their environments degrade, disrupting traditional practices and cultural continuity. These climate stresses also heighten health vulnerabilities, increasing risks of heat stress, respiratory illness and waterborne disease, placing additional pressure on an already under-resourced healthcare system, particularly in rural regions where access to care remains limited.

Meeting India’s climate goals and responding to these systemic challenges requires rapid innovation across interconnected domains — clean energy transitions, resilient agriculture and livelihoods, and accessible healthcare. Accelerating the development of technologies that serve smallholder farmers, underserved communities and last-mile health systems is critical to safeguarding both human and environmental well-being.

However, developing deeptech products requires significant time, funding and engineering effort. The journey from concept to functional product involves multiple stages of design, prototyping, testing, validation, manufacturing and distribution — each interdependent, capital-intensive and high-risk.

To bridge this gap, Social Alpha and MUFG have partnered to support early-stage start-ups advancing breakthrough solutions in climate, healthcare and livelihoods, enabling them to accelerate product development, reduce technical risk, and progress towards market readiness.