Innovation
InnoWin | True disruption is often unglamorous
Saumya, Co-founder of Kheyti, reflects on the challenges of building climate-smart solutions.
June 10, 2026
From a new chapter at MIF to insights from farmers, innovators, and industry leaders, here is what October looked like at MIF.
At Marico Innovation Foundation (MIF), October was a month of change and continuity. MIF welcomed a leadership transition. Varun Hangloo, part of MIF since 2020 and and most recently the Head of Scale-Up and New Initiatives, takes on the role of Head of Foundation. His focus—building on what has been created, while continuing to expand the possibilities for Indian innovations to grow and scale.
World Food Day, observed on 16 October under the theme “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow”, was an opportunity to reflect on the importance of reducing food loss and strengthening agricultural resilience. At MIF, that message sits close to our agri-tech work. The ongoing Agri-Tech Pilot in Uttar Pradesh examines farmers’ experiences on post-harvest losses and is helping bring collaborative solutions such as AgroGrade, ColdEasy Box, and Saptkrishi to farmers after understanding their needs, processes and the road to adoption.
In this month’s InnoWin, we spoke with Deepak Rajmohan, Co-founder of GreenPod Labs, a Scale-Up startup fighting post-harvest food waste. Deepak builds on first-principles thinking and biomimicry, solving problems from the fundamentals rather than the surface. His advice to founders: be obsessed with the problem, not the solution. Treat every failure as a data point. Stay close to customers and ask whether they would actually pay. And since most startups fail, resilience is what keeps you in the 10% that don’t. Read the full conversation.
The edition is also on our LinkedIn newsletter: InnoWin | Solving problems from the fundamentals, not the surface.
The first round of jury deliberations for Indian Innovation Icons 2027 concluded in September, marking an important milestone in the selection process. This edition attracted over 1,000 applications from across India. Beyond the numbers, what stood out was the diversity of sectors represented and the ambition of the problems Indian entrepreneurs are choosing to solve.
The jury assessed the shortlisted innovations on four key parameters including innovation, impact, scalability, and long-term viability. They noted several highly promising startups across both the business and social sectors, reflecting the depth and diversity of innovation in this year’s cohort.
As part of the evaluation process, our knowledge partner, Deloitte has conducted on-ground due diligence by visiting the startups’ headquarters, manufacturing units, and operational locations. The due diligence process has been completed for all shortlisted startups.The second jury round is scheduled for 23 November 2026, where founders will present their ventures to the jury panel. Based on these discussions and the overall evaluation process, the jury will deliberate and decide the Indian Innovations Icons 2027.
What do some of the most experienced leaders think about innovation, what is a good idea, and what should innovation solve? Our short form series is here.
From the leadership of MIF to the farms of Uttar Pradesh, the work continues with the same purpose: finding, backing and scaling solutions to India’s real challenges.
Want to follow along? Subscribe to InnoWin, MIF’s monthly newsletter, or follow Marico Innovation Foundation on LinkedIn for founder stories and updates from India’s innovation ecosystem.
Saumya, Co-founder of Kheyti, reflects on the challenges of building climate-smart solutions.
Bipin Odhekar shares perspectives on innovation, agility, and creating sustainable impact.
Neha Jain, CEO of Zerocircle, shares learnings from building sustainable innovation to reduce plastic waste.
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