The Godrej Design Lab Fellowship Program aims to engage with India’s vibrant design space by empowering pioneering talent to showcase their passion, expertise, and vision.
Since inception, the program has worked with 40+ talented individuals from across India on projects ranging from furniture and product design, to materials research, to social impact and education. We are proud to be part of each Fellow’s journeys.
Over the years, we have seen a clear deepening of the talent pool in the Indian design ecosystem. We have also seen the ecosystem become more multifaceted, interdisciplinary, and purpose-driven. And over the years, the program, too, has changed and matured from a design showcase highlighting promising work in the interiors space, to a program wanting to reflect the diverse impact and forms that design takes.
THE FELLOWSHIP JOURNEY
In its current form as a one-year, non-residential, grants-based program, the Fellowship aims to catalyze future leaders in the Indian design ecosystem to make innovative impact across multiple domains of design. To this end, the program has grown to include opportunities for Fellows to come together and learn from each other. Over time, the program will continue to evolve to respond and offer a pioneering space to the ever changing Indian design ecosystem.
For us, the Fellowship Program is, fundamentally, about the people. And every year begins with an intensive process to survey up-and-coming talent from across the country. In our hunt for possible Fellows, we look to a myriad of sources for leads — industry experts, course catalogues, social media, shops and galleries — which lead not to applications or a competition, but to conversations. Where have they come from? What drives them today? Where do they want to go?
In the course of conversations, we try to understand how an intervention from the program could add value to their professional journey, their creative industry, and the larger discourse around design.
In selecting Fellows, we build cohorts made of diverse projects which also speak to and build off of each other. Individually, they should have an entrepreneurial spirit, a differentiated voice, and an authentic curiosity. Collectively, they and their projects should represent the breadth of design practice.
How we support
A Year of interactions and mentorship
Over the course of the year, Godrej Design Lab offers mentorship, retreats, on-ground documentation, and promotion of the Fellows and their projects.
Showcasing at leading creative platforms
We exhibit the Fellowship work within our flagship event, Conscious Collective, and find opportunities throughout the year for meaningful plug-ins to industry forums and showcases.
Additionally, we have an amazing team of passionate storytellers, interviewers, videographers, and photographers who, throughout the year, adventure out to where our Fellows projects take place to uncover the deeper stories of place, material, and people.
Funding
Project funding ranges up to 10 Lakh INR.
Our funding model is flexible and we evaluate based on projects scope, scale, and impact.
Godrej Design Lab Fellows
GDL Fellows come from all over, but all have something in common: they are working in India and defining new visions for what design can be.
| 2025 | |
|---|---|
| Neel Jain | Co-Founder, andlabs Visiting Faculty, CEPT University |
| Maulik Oza | Founder, MO Ceramic And Design Co-Founder, Clay Club Innovations Visiting Faculty, CEPT University |
| Karan Verma | Co-Founder, a.Quest Visiting Faculty, CEPT University |
| Krunal Patel | Co-Founder, Episteme Designs Visiting Faculty, CEPT University |
| Deeptashree Saha | Co-Founder, The Vernacular Modern |
| Abhirup Dutta | Co-Founder, The Vernacular Modern |
| Shikha Rentala | Founder, Taro Collective |
| Federico Fraternale | Founder, Taro Collective |
| Marco Grimandi | Founder, Taro Collective |
| Ambika Joshi | Founder, Ajaibghar |
| Nanditi Khilnani | Founder, Ajaibghar |
| Anne Geenen | Founder, Site Practice |
| Brinda Dudhat | Co-Founder, Morii |
| Kabir | Co-Founder, Morii Design |
| 2024 | |
|---|---|
| Abhimanyu Singhal | Partner, Research + Partnerships, Architecture for Dialogue |
| Depanshu Gola | Partner, Design + Strategy, Architecture for Dialogue |
| Bhakti V. Loonawat | Partner, Anomalia |
| Suyash Sawant | Partner, Anomalia |
| Nitisha Agrawal | Founder & Director, Smokeless Cookstove Foundation |
| Shwetha Iyengar | Co-Founder, Murubi |
| Jaymin Panchasara | Co-Founder, Murubi |
| Rahul Bhushan | Founder, NORTH |
| 2020 | |
|---|---|
| Isha Gopal | Founder, Bloon Toys |
| Sudheer Rajbhar | Founder, Chamar Studio |
| 2019 | |
|---|---|
| Rana Swarajsinh | Co-Founder, Baakas Design |
| Rana Hameersinh | Co-Founder, Baakas Design |
| Shweta Chhatpar | Co-Founder, Studio Pomegranate |
| Pranav Naik | Co-Founder, Studio Pomegranate |
| 2017 | |
|---|---|
| Saket Sethi | Founder, Saket Sethi Design |
| Rana Hameersinh | Co-Founder, Baakas Design |
| Aarushi Bafna | Founder, Studio Aarushi Bafna |
| Abhimanyu Nohwar | Founder & Director, Kiba Design |
| Ammar Kalo | Founder, KALO Design Studio |
| Ayushi Jain | Independent Designer |
| Jaymin Panchasara | Co-Founder, 5th Column |
| Vivek Prakash | Co-Founder, 5th Column |
| Hardik Gandhi | Creative Head, DesignGandhi |
| Janpreet Kaur Dogra | Independent Designer and Architect |
| Karthic Rathinam | Independent Designer |
| Britta Knobel Gupta | Founding Partner, Studio Symbiosis |
| Amit Gupta | Founding Partner, Studio Symbiosis |
| 2016 | |
|---|---|
| Anindya Das Gupta | Independent Designer and Architect |
| Aziz Kachwalla | Founder & Director, The Orange Company |
| Cyrus Patell | Co-Founder, CollectiveProject |
| Deepak Jawahar | Co-Founder, The Architecture Story |
| Hriday Gami | Independent Designer and Architect |
| Ranjan Bordoloi | Independent Designer and Architect |
| Rooshad Shroff | Founder, Rooshad Shroff |
| Saket Sethi | Founder, Saket Sethi Design |
| 2015 | |
|---|---|
| Anu Tandon Vieira | Founder, The retyrement plan |
| Harpreet Padam | Co-Founder, Unlike Design Co. |
| Lavanya Asthana | Co-Founder, Unlike Design Co. |
| Ishan Khosla | Founder, Ishan Khosla Design |
| Nida Mahmood | Founder, Nida Mahmood |
| Rooshad Shroff | Founder, Rooshad Shroff |
| Saif Faisal | Founder, Saif Faisal Design Workshop |
| Sujay Das | Independent Designer and Architect |