Hindustan Unilever, FCDO and EY Support Indian Startups to Accelerate Circularity and Climate-smart Agriculture
Green Worms, one of the TRANSFORM India Challenge winners, are a group of waste collectors transforming plastic waste into purpose.
TRANSFORM leverages each partner’s strengths to accelerate change:
• Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) contributes commercial know‑how, operational capability, and value chain access
• FCDO offers grant support, diplomatic networks and global partnerships
• EY provides in-kind technical assistance through strategic consulting and business transformation
Selected through the TRANSFORM India Challenge from over 150 applications via a rigorous multi-stage evaluation, the winning startups exemplify the spirit of Make in India innovation.
The selected enterprises are building cutting-edge technologies and innovative business models to tackle India’s pressing development challenges: accelerating plastics circularity and enhancing the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. By backing these homegrown ventures, TRANSFORM is nurturing a new generation of Indian entrepreneurs who are building scalable, climate-resilient solutions rooted in local context but with global relevance.
This initiative underscores the power of cross-sector collaboration in unlocking transformative and sustained change - where corporate leadership, government partnership, and grassroots innovation converge to shape a more sustainable and equitable future for India.
The selected startups are:
Terra Ecopreneurs (Karnataka): Terra Ecopreneurs partners with tribal and marginal farmers to drive climate-smart coffee and pepper cultivation. By building strong farmer producer organisations and providing access to quality inputs, training, and market linkages, they help over 3,000 smallholders – 25% women – boost productivity, quality and incomes. Their model unlocks sustainable growth for underserved communities through regenerative agriculture and helps strengthen market linkages between farmers and FMCG organisations.
Royal Bengal Greentech (West Bengal): Royal Bengal Greentech has pioneered BhavisyaPlast™ – a patented, agri-waste-based bioplastic. The enterprise aims to offer an alternative to conventional plastics. Their innovation can help brands adopt more sustainable packaging. By converting local agricultural waste into high-performance bioplastics, they advance circularity and rural livelihoods while tackling plastic pollution at scale.
Green Worms (Kerala): Green Worms is transforming India’s plastics value chain with recycled low-density polyethylene (LDPE) films for packaging. Their integrated model formalises 4,800 waste collectors - 70% women - into supply chains, providing dignified jobs and boosting incomes. By leveraging recycling technology, Green Worms can deliver FMCG brands with traceable, industry-compliant recycled plastics, setting new benchmarks for social inclusion and environmental impact.
AniMeta (Tamil Nadu): AniMeta delivers AI-powered animal healthcare and antibiotic-free ethnoveterinary products to smallholder dairy farmers. Their digital platform and B2B partnerships make timely, affordable veterinary care accessible, reducing antibiotic misuse and improving livestock health. With a focus on local farmers, AniMeta is promoting safer, more sustainable dairy in the FMCG value chains.
Beyond funding alone, TRANSFORM is providing the selected enterprises with customised business insights, practical support, and access to a global network of contacts, helping them expand their operations and scale their positive impact.
BP Biddappa, Executive Director and Chief People, Transformation and Sustainability Officer at Hindustan Unilever Limited said: “Through the TRANSFORM programme, we are driving inclusive, locally-led innovation for sustainable change. By focusing on pressing sustainability and social challenges in India, TRANSFORM ensures solutions are not only innovative but deeply relevant to the communities. From reducing plastic waste to improving smallholder livelihoods, we’re proud to help entrepreneurs scale their ideas and build a more equitable, regenerative future.”
Pragyal Singh, Partner, Government and Public Sector, EY India, shared: "At EY, we believe that entrepreneurs are coming up with some of the most impactful and innovative solutions to drive sustainable progress. Through TRANSFORM, we see firsthand how social enterprises can tackle systemic challenges like waste management and rural livelihoods with creativity and ambition. We leverage EY people's skills, knowledge and experience to support these innovators to grow and scale their impactful solutions, while gaining fresh perspectives that inspire our own people and strengthen our commitment to creating value by reimagining and realising transformations across the plastic waste and agriculture sectors."
To date, TRANSFORM has supported 23 SMEs in India and reached more than seven million people in the region.
Will Kirk
Forster Communications
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