Accelerating Indian Innovation: Accel and Prosus Join Forces to Support Early-Stage Startups

Accel and Prosus Partner to Invest in Indian Startups

Accel and Prosus, renowned investors, have joined forces to establish a new investment collaboration aimed at supporting Indian startups right from their inception. The main focus of this partnership is to provide backing to founders who are developing large-scale solutions that have the potential to benefit the masses in India.

The partnership, which was announced recently, signifies Prosus’ first foray into investing at the formation stage. Both Accel and Prosus will co-invest in startups from their earliest stages, with a particular emphasis on companies that are addressing systemic challenges in sectors such as automation, energy transition, internet services, and manufacturing.

India, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion people, is experiencing rapid growth in its digital economy. The country boasts more than a billion internet users and over 700 million smartphone users, making it the second-largest smartphone market globally, following China. Platforms supported by the Indian government, such as the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Aadhaar, have established a digital infrastructure that allows startups to swiftly build and scale their services. Despite this progress, much of India’s startup activity has previously focused on adapting global business models, with fewer companies tackling significant domestic challenges. The Accel–Prosus alliance aims to shift this paradigm.

The collaboration expands Accel’s early-stage founder program, Atoms X, which was launched to support “leap tech” startups – companies working on large-scale, systems-driven problems.

According to Pratik Agarwal, a partner at Accel, “The time is ripe for the Indian startup ecosystem to transition from adapting global businesses to creating indigenous models that can propel India’s journey towards becoming a developed nation.” He highlighted the challenges faced by startups working on population-scale solutions in raising early capital, emphasizing the importance of providing sufficient funding at the right time to enable substantial progress without multiple false starts.

As part of the partnership, Prosus has committed to matching Accel’s investment in each company, with initial checks ranging from $100,000 to $1 million, a figure that may increase over time. Ashutosh Sharma, head of India ecosystem at Prosus, emphasized the significance of pooling resources to support founders with ambitious visions and challenging problems to solve.

Traditionally focused on late-stage investments globally, Prosus has made key investments in India, including Swiggy, Meesho, and PayU.

Sharma noted that while Prosus is committed to matching Accel’s investment in the partnership, it is not seeking an equivalent equity stake initially. He highlighted the importance of identifying potential game-changers early on, stating that success lies in recognizing the next Swiggy, Meesho, or Tencent of the future today.

The collaboration between Accel and Prosus expands their investment activities in India. In recent times, both firms have co-invested in startups such as Arivihan, an AI-powered tutoring platform, and Wiom, a low-cost internet service provider.

Sharma expressed optimism about India’s position in the global tech revolution, emphasizing the country’s potential to carve out a significant role beyond AI in the changing landscape.

The alliance comes amidst geopolitical tensions that have disrupted capital flows and technology supply chains globally. With India’s large domestic market, expanding digital infrastructure, and growing technical talent pool, the country is increasingly viewed as a strategic priority for investors seeking safe and scalable deployment of capital.

Accel’s early-stage program, Atoms, has supported over 40 startups, with more than 30% of them securing follow-on funding from external investors. VC funding in India witnessed a decline in the first half of 2025, reflecting a challenging investment climate. Despite this, India continues to attract global investors due to its population size and digital adoption rate.

In a separate initiative, a coalition of U.S. and Indian VC and private equity firms, including Accel, Blume Ventures, Celesta Capital, and Premji Invest, has committed over $1 billion to support deep tech startups. This partnership between Accel and Prosus underscores the ongoing trend of global VCs making long-term investments in India.