Google and Accel Join Forces to Discover India’s Rising AI Stars

Google and Accel Collaborate to Support AI Startups in India

Google has joined forces with Accel to seek out and back India’s earliest-stage AI startups in a groundbreaking partnership for the Google AI Futures Fund, which was established earlier this year.

Accel and Google have announced a new initiative to invest up to $2 million in each startup through Accel’s Atoms program, with both companies contributing up to $1 million each. The focus of the 2026 cohort will be on founders in India and the Indian diaspora who are developing AI products from the ground up.

According to Prayank Swaroop, a partner at Accel, the aim is to create AI products for the vast Indian population and to support AI products made in India for global markets.

India, with the world’s second-largest internet and smartphone user base after China, possesses deep engineering talent. However, the country lacks frontier model development and has not produced many companies at the forefront of AI technology, which is mainly concentrated in the U.S. and China.

Nevertheless, the landscape is changing as major players like OpenAI and Anthropic have set up offices in India, and global investors are increasing their commitments to early-stage startups. The belief is that India, with its large mobile-first population, expanding cloud infrastructure, and low software costs, could become a significant AI market if the ecosystem can harness talent and demand to produce original research and products.

Investments will target various areas such as creativity, entertainment, coding, and work, with a focus on SaaS and other applications that encompass the future of work. The program will also identify areas where large language models are expected to advance in the next 12-24 months and seek out Indian startups developing in those areas.

Founders will not only receive financial support but also up to $350,000 in compute credits across Google Cloud, Gemini, and DeepMind, along with early access to Gemini and DeepMind models, APIs, and experimental features. The program will provide support from Google Labs and DeepMind research teams, co-development opportunities, mentorship from Accel partners and Google technical leads, as well as immersion sessions in London and the Bay Area, including Google I/O. Marketing support through Accel and Google’s global channels, access to the Atoms founder network, and Google’s AI builder ecosystem are also part of the package.

Jonathan Silber, co-founder and director of the Google AI Futures Fund, emphasized India’s history of innovation and the country’s potential to lead the next wave of AI-led global technology. Google’s extensive investments in India’s digital transformation, including a recent $15 billion plan to build a data center and AI hub, underscore the commitment to the region’s growth.

The AI Futures Fund, launched in 2021, has already supported companies like Replit and Harvey, and has directly invested in Indian startups such as Toonsutra and STAN. Google’s involvement in startups funded through the partnership will be significant, with a focus on fostering innovation in the AI space.

While startups participating in the program are expected to leverage Google’s technology, there are no strict requirements to exclusively use Google products. The goal is to explore unique integrations with companies that leverage Google AI technology, alongside other cutting-edge solutions from companies like Anthropic and OpenAI.

Accel’s pre-seed and seed platform, Atoms, launched in 2021, has already supported over 40 companies that have collectively raised over $300 million in follow-on funding. The program has expanded this year to include Indian-origin founders based overseas.

The collaboration between Google and Accel follows a recent partnership between Accel and Prosus to co-invest in Atoms X, which focuses on supporting early-stage Indian founders developing solutions with broad societal impact.

According to Silber, the goal of the partnership with Google is not about acquiring future cloud customers or companies but about fostering the next wave of AI innovation in India.