Google and venture capital firm Accel have announced a partnership to invest in early-stage AI startups in India, marking a significant move to bolster the country’s growing artificial intelligence ecosystem. The collaboration, part of Google’s AI Futures Fund launched earlier this year, will see joint investments of up to $2 million in select companies through Accel’s Atoms program. This initiative aims to support founders building AI products for both the Indian market and global consumers.
The announcement, made Tuesday, comes as India emerges as a key region for AI development, fueled by its large internet and smartphone user base and a substantial pool of engineering talent. While currently lagging behind the US and China in frontier AI model development, India is attracting increased attention from major players like OpenAI and Anthropic, who have recently established a presence in the country.
Boosting India’s AI Startup Landscape
The partnership will provide selected startups with not only financial backing – up to $1 million from each firm – but also substantial resources from Google. This includes up to $350,000 in Google Cloud compute credits, encompassing access to Gemini and DeepMind technologies, APIs, and experimental features. The goal is to lower the barrier to entry for Indian AI innovators.
Focus Areas and Investment Strategy
Accel and Google are open to investing across a wide range of AI applications, including those focused on creativity, entertainment, coding, and productivity tools. According to Prayank Swaroop, a partner at Accel, the firms will also prioritize identifying areas where large language models are expected to advance in the coming months and seek out startups working in those specific directions. This proactive approach aims to capitalize on emerging trends in artificial intelligence.
However, the investment isn’t solely focused on cutting-edge foundational models. Swaroop emphasized the potential of AI to transform work processes in India, particularly within the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) sector. The partnership recognizes the broad applicability of AI technologies.
A Collaborative Approach
This collaboration represents Google’s first joint investment initiative with a venture capital firm through the AI Futures Fund. Jonathan Silber, co-founder and director of the fund, stated that India was chosen specifically due to its potential for innovation and Google’s long-term commitment to the country’s digital transformation, with investments totaling billions of dollars over the years. The partnership is designed to leverage Accel’s deep understanding of the Indian startup ecosystem.
Google will take a material equity stake in the funded startups, but the exact proportion compared to Accel’s investment remains undisclosed. Silber clarified that the primary objective is to foster innovation, not to acquire companies or secure new cloud customers. The focus is on supporting the development of groundbreaking AI solutions originating from India.
Importantly, neither Google nor Accel will require startups to exclusively utilize Google’s AI models, such as Gemini. Silber noted that the best tool for the job may vary, and the firms are open to startups leveraging technologies from competitors like Anthropic and OpenAI. The emphasis is on finding unique integrations that can benefit from Google’s AI capabilities.
Accel’s Atoms program, launched in 2021, has already supported over 40 companies, collectively raising more than $300 million in subsequent funding rounds. The program was recently expanded to include Indian-origin founders based outside of India. This partnership builds on Accel’s existing momentum and expands its reach within the AI industry.
This move follows other recent investments by Google in India, including a $15 billion plan to construct a 1-gigawatt data center and AI hub, and a $10 billion digitization fund announced in 2020, which has backed major Indian companies like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio. Google is clearly signaling its long-term commitment to the Indian tech market.
The partnership also aligns with Accel’s recent collaboration with Prosus to co-invest in Atoms X, another initiative focused on supporting early-stage Indian founders developing scalable solutions for the mass market. These combined efforts demonstrate a strong belief in the potential of Indian entrepreneurship.
Looking ahead, the success of this initiative will depend on the ability of the Indian AI ecosystem to translate its considerable talent and growing demand into original research and commercially viable products. The first investments are expected to be announced in the coming months, with the 2026 cohort marking a key milestone. Observers will be watching to see if this collaboration can truly unlock India’s potential as a global AI powerhouse and drive further machine learning innovation.
