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How 'Culture Catalyst' Empowers Cultural Brands in North India
- 1d
- 3 min read
In April 2024, Team PCP, along with our partners at AIC-ISB and NICEOrg conceived of a bold and audacious project. More of an experiment really.
We aimed to determine how providing an ideal enabling ecosystem—access to skills, resources, expertise, networks and capital—would affect the growth and scale of authentic cultural brands from underserved states in North India.
Perhaps equally important, we also asked, "Would investors—angel, impact, private or venture — be curious to explore the economic opportunity India's cultural economy promises? Could they be persuaded to participate in our experiment?"
The result was Culture Catalyst 2025-26, India's first investor-funded business accelerator for cultural brands in North India.
The program received over 100 applications, and by the end, eight growth stage cultural brands - and their founders - made a transformative journey.
To our amazement, 12 industry investors generously gave us their support, as anchors, enablers and advisors. Six of them not only funded the program from start to finish, but also mentored the founders through the six months. The program received practical guidance from over 30 industry experts and mentors, and substantial support from the community of ecosystem enablers.
The learnings from V1.0 have let us put in place a foundation and scaffolding to build a truly modern cultural economy, led by profitable and responsible cultural brands, in subsequent versions of the program.
Culture Catalyst 1.0: August 2025 - January 2026
What
India’s first investor-funded business accelerator for cultural brands.
For Whom
Cultural brands from North India, with at least 2 years of operations, in the verticals of Health & Wellness, Fashion & Accessories, Home decor and Furnishings, Experiential Tourism, and Food & Beverages.
Why?
Create an enabling ecosystem for cultural entrepreneurs to build and grow authentic cultural brands into innovative and profitable businesses.
How
A six-month business accelerator aimed at upskilling founders, bringing clarity to their brand growth journey, and access to capital
When
August 2025 to Jan 2026
Where
3 in-person immersions at the ISB Campus in Mohali + virtual group and 1:1 sessions
Get the post-program report for Culture Catalyst 1.0 (2025-26) here (PDF file)
What makes this program unique?
Investor-funded model: Unlike grant-based models, Culture Catalyst is funded by angel investors. These 06 anchor investors not only paid for the founders seats on this program, but also mentored them 1:1, throughout the six-month program, with a comittment of another 2 years of guidance. Meet the 6 anchor investors of Culture Catalyst 2025-26 here.
Founder-and brand-focused: Unlike typical NGO-led interventions that seek to protect artisans or create livelihoods from a social lens only, Culture Catalyst is a founder-focused business accelerator aimed at enabling responsible and profitable cultural enterprises in North India to compete with commercial brands while remaining authentic to their cultural and social mission. Program support from PCP and AIC-ISB continues in perpetuity even after the 6-month term.
North India centric: This is the first accelerator of its kind in the region, addressing cultural entrepreneurs in the underserved states of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.
If you are a cultural brand, industry expert or investor and want to be part of Culture Catalyst 2.0 (2026), then email us at hello@punjabculturalproject.com and follow us on Instagram to make sure you don't miss any announcements and updates!
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