Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies

What Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies does

Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies (RNP) is a private philanthropic foundation registered in Karnataka, India in 2022 (CIN: U85100KA2022NPL159639) and headquartered at WeWork Galaxy, Residency Road, Bangalore. It is chaired by Rohini Nilekani, a three-decade veteran of Indian civil society and author of 'Samaaj, Sarkaar, Bazaar', whose household with Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is a signatory to the Giving Pledge. RNP operates across five thematic fields of work: Access to Justice, Active Citizenship, Arts & Culture, Ecosystem Building, and Climate & Environment, with mental health emerging as a recent area of focus. It does not sell products or services and has no commercial revenue, functioning instead as a grant-making and ecosystem-building vehicle for charitable capital.

RNP's core offerings consist of direct grants, co-curated fellowships, specialized funding initiatives, and research publications rather than technology products. Disclosed commitments include an INR 100 Crores grant to NIMHANS and NCBS for mental health research and treatment, an INR 1.2 Crores Environmental Film Fund with ALT EFF supporting three documentary films on coexistence, and the Samvardhan Biodiversity & Conservation Fellowship co-curated with Dasra (INR 3 Lakh per fellow). It co-produces research such as the 'Resilience' report with Dalberg Advisors and the Climate Adjacency Framework with DESTA Research, and operates the Grassroots Nation podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Its most significant ecosystem initiative, Common Ground, spans approximately 75 initiatives across 58 organizations with Living Landscapes Padraka Foundation as backbone.

RNP runs a community-led go-to-market approach, deploying patient, trust-based capital and emphasizing co-creation over fragmented project funding. Its pricing model is non-applicable given the philanthropic structure. The foundation serves Indian civil society organizations and NGOs as its primary segment, with research institutions (NIMHANS, NCBS) and marginalized climate-affected communities as secondary beneficiaries. The team is intentionally small at approximately 15-20 staff, leveraging partner networks rather than internal headcount to scale impact.

Name

Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies

Legal name

Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies Foundation

Website

https://rohininilekaniphilanthropies.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies is a Bangalore-based private philanthropic foundation established in 2022 that deploys charitable capital via grants, fellowships, and ecosystem initiatives across climate, access to justice, active citizenship, arts and culture, and ecosystem building, serving Indian civil society organizations and communities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Foundation (Grant-Making)

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM), Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAL), Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN), Biodiversity, Conservation & Natural Capital Funds (FSANAJAG)

Keywords

• Philanthropic grant-making
• Civil society funding
• Climate resilience research
• Conservation fellowship programs
• Nonprofit foundation

Headquarters

HQ city

Bangalore

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grant-Making: As a philanthropic foundation, RNP generates no commercial revenue. It deploys charitable capital through grants to civil society organizations, research institutions, and movement-based initiatives working on climate, mental health, active citizenship, access to justice, arts & culture, and ecosystem building.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies is a private philanthropic foundation that deploys charitable capital through grants, fellowships, and research to civil society organizations, research institutions, and movement-based initiatives working on climate and environment, mental health, active citizenship, access to justice, arts and culture, and ecosystem building. Recent flagship commitments include INR 100 Crores to NIMHANS and NCBS for mental health research, INR 1.2 Crores to the ALT EFF Environmental Film Fund, and seed grants under the Samvardhan Biodiversity and Conservation Fellowship. The foundation also publishes research reports (climate resilience, climate adjacency) and produces the Grassroots Nation podcast.

Product overview

Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies (RNP) is a philanthropy foundation, not a technology product company. Its primary offerings are grant-making programs supporting civil society organizations across five fields of work: Access to Justice, Active Citizenship, Arts & Culture, Ecosystem Building, and Climate & Environment. The organization produces research publications (climate resilience reports, climate adjacency frameworks), operates the Grassroots Nation podcast series, and manages funding initiatives including the ALT EFF Environmental Film Fund (INR 1.2 Crores) and the Samvardhan Biodiversity & Conservation Fellowship (co-curated with Dasra). Recent major grant commitments include INR 100 Crores to NIMHANS & NCBS for mental health research.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• RNP Grants Program Grant-making initiative providing financial support to organizations working across RNP's focus areas including mental health, climate and environment, access to justice, active citizenship, arts and culture, and ecosystem building. Recent major grants include INR 100 Crores to NIMHANS and NCBS for mental health research.
• ALT EFF Environmental Film Fund Environmental film funding initiative supporting documentary filmmaking on themes of coexistence between humans, wildlife, ecology, and climate realities; INR 1.2 Crores fund supporting three documentary films with grants, mentorship, and distribution support.
• Samvardhan Biodiversity and Conservation Fellowship 12-month fellowship program for early-career conservation practitioners from India, providing seed grants of INR 3 Lakh, mentorship, and peer learning opportunities; seed-funded by Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and co-curated with Dasra.
• Climate Resilience Reports Research publications produced in collaboration with Dalberg Advisors examining disaster resilience, climate adaptation, and community-led approaches to climate challenges in India; includes the 'Resilience: Moving beyond surviving climate disasters to supporting communities to thrive' report.
• Climate Adjacency Framework Research methodology developed with DESTA Research to help field partners identify climate linkages in non-climate focused projects; framework for mapping a project's influence on local ecosystems and livelihoods.
• Grassroots Nation Podcast Podcast series featuring conversations with social sector leaders, practitioners, and changemakers discussing topics including commons governance, civil society, climate resilience, and community-led development; episodes available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Quantifiable outcome

• 85% of India's districts exposed to climate disasters; poor households can lose 85% of annual income from single climate event; recovery from major shock takes nearly 19 years
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and supporting.

• ALT EFF (All Living Things Environmental Film Festival)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 June 2026RNP supported ALT EFF in launching India's largest environmental film fund of 1.2 Crores, supporting three documentary films on coexistence themes. Working with Greenstories and DocedgeKolkata for project identification and mentorship.
• DasracoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 May 2026RNP partnered with Dasra to co-curate and seed-fund the Samvardhan Biodiversity & Conservation Fellowship, a 12-month program providing seed grants of ₹3 Lakh, mentorship, and peer learning for early-career conservation practitioners under 35 years of age.
• Dalberg AdvisorscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 February 2026RNP collaborated with Dalberg Advisors to produce the 'Resilience: Moving beyond surviving climate disasters to supporting communities to thrive' report, which examines how India can shift from reactive disaster relief to proactive, community-driven resilience building.
• NIMHANS & NCBSflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerRNP granted INR 100 Crores to NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences) and NCBS (National Centre for Biological Sciences) to accelerate research and treatment of five major mental health disorders. This represents one of RNP's largest single grant commitments.
• GreenstoriessupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerDocumentary platform partner for ALT EFF Film Fund, identifying projects and providing intensive labs and mentorship forums.
• DocedgeKolkatasupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerDocumentary platform partner for ALT EFF Film Fund's second application round, providing pitching sessions and mentorship.
• DESTA Research LLPsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner for the 'Identifying Climate Adjacency' study, helping field partners identify climate linkages in non-climate focused projects and mapping connections between climate change and conservation.
• Common Ground InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-created ecosystem initiative involving 58+ organizations and 75 initiatives focused on policy-practice, markets, technology, and connections between them for community-led natural resource governance. Led by Living Landscapes Padraka Foundation.
• Living Landscapes Padraka FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBackbone organization for Common Ground initiative, supporting the ecosystem of organizations working on commons, natural resource governance, climate adaptation, and community-led management.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Azim Premji Foundation: India's largest philanthropic foundation, also funded by a single high-net-worth family (Wipro founder). Operates across multiple social-sector areas including education, sustainability, and health with patient, large-scale grantmaking and direct programs — directly comparable in model and scale ambition to RNP.
• Tata Trusts: India's oldest and one of the largest philanthropic institutions, supporting health, education, livelihood, arts, and environment. Comparable to RNP in thematic breadth, Indian geography, and institutional-family model, though operating at a vastly larger scale.
• EdelGive Foundation: Indian philanthropic foundation focused on education, livelihoods, gender equity, and climate, working through grantmaking to high-impact NGOs. Directly comparable in scale, thematic spread, and grantmaking-as-core-model approach.
• Dasra: Leading Indian philanthropic intermediary that partners with funders and nonprofits to scale impact. Already a direct RNP partner on the Samvardhan Fellowship, Dasra is highly comparable in its focus on ecosystem building and capacity-strengthening within Indian civil society.
• A.T.E. Chandra Foundation: Indian family philanthropic foundation supporting livelihood, education, environment, and arts. Comparable as a relatively smaller, multi-thematic Indian philanthropic foundation funding civil-society initiatives through grantmaking.
• Arghyam: Indian philanthropic foundation also founded by Rohini Nilekani, focused on sustainable water and sanitation. Highly comparable as a same-founder, India-based philanthropic foundation operating with a grantmaking-plus-ecosystem approach in a single mission area.
• Wipro Foundation: CSR arm of Wipro supporting education, skills, and community resilience in India. Comparable in deploying Indian philanthropic capital toward multi-thematic social-sector outcomes with a mix of direct programs and grants to partners.

Broad incumbents

• Omidyar Network India: Impact-investing and philanthropic arm of the Omidyar Group operating in India across education, governance, and emerging tech. Comparable as a large, mission-driven funder working across multiple Indian social-sector themes with both grants and investments.
• Ford Foundation (India office): Global philanthropic foundation with a long-standing India presence focused on inequality, civil society, and rights. Comparable in supporting rights-based, civil-society, and ecosystem-building work in India, though with substantially greater geographic and capital reach.
• ClimateWorks Foundation: Global climate-focused philanthropic platform that regrants to climate-adaptation and mitigation initiatives. Comparable as a climate-focused foundation producing research/frameworks (e.g., Climate Adjacency) and channeling funds to on-the-ground partners, including in emerging markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/RNP_Foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies