Accel, Google AI Futures Fund to launch 2026 AI cohort for Indian founders

Milestone partnership to focus on AI for Indians and taking AI innovation from India to the world

Global venture-capital firm Accel has entered into a partnership with Google’s AI Futures Fund (AIFF) to launch the 2026 AI cohort within its Atoms program. The tie-up will see the two companies co-invest in founders in India who are building frontier AI startups from day zero, and will extend to members of the Indian diaspora developing products for India and global markets.

 

The collaboration -- Google’s first of its kind in India -- adds fresh capital and validation to the country’s emerging AI sector, marrying Accel’s company-building experience with Google’s research capabilities, technical infrastructure and support.

 

“Building is expensive, compute is expensive. One of the benefits is that we are trying to subsidise some of those costs up front as well. We’re providing each one of these portfolio companies with $350,000 in compute credits,” Jonathan Silber, co-founder and director of AIFF, told Business Standard during a media roundtable.

 

“They’re getting access to Google DeepMind product managers, engineers and technical support. They are really getting a leg up and more focused output. It’s really a targeted and highly curated effort with the people that are building these models on the inside at Google. They are helping founders understand how to use those and best leverage them, which will end up saving them costs in the process.”

 

The 2026 Atoms AI Cohort will support each startup with up to $2 million in co-investment. Accel will be investing up to $1 million in each firm and it will be matched by Google AI Futures Fund with up to $1 million. This would lead to a unique capital commitment at the early stage for Indian AI startups, accelerating the momentum Indian AI startups are riding currently while increasing global recognition coming their way.

 

Over the past decade, India has moved from being a services-led economy to a hub for product innovation, building companies that compete on a global stage. Its deep technical talent, the challenge of serving a billion users, and a culture of bold entrepreneurship together create a strong foundation for AI-led innovation.

 

Prayank Swaroop and Shekhar Kirani, partners at Accel, said in a joint statement, “AI enables borderless thinking and thus leads to global scale without constraints. For over a decade, Accel has been the first partner for many of India’s most ambitious founders. With Google, we’re creating a ready stack of resources to help Indian founders build and scale globally from day one. We’re helping remove the barriers that have traditionally limited early-stage AI builders and creating a launchpad for category-defining companies.”

 

Accel said it has always believed that India’s best founders can build globally competitive companies from day one by drawing on local talent and insights while applying borderless thinking. Together with Google, it is looking to back founders building products that make creation easier, work smarter, and entertainment more participatory. The focus is on reimagining how people create, collaborate, and build-- from new tools for makers to platforms that turn everyday users into active participants in the digital economy.

 

Silber of AIFF, said, “At the AI Futures Fund, we believe India’s founders will play a leading role in defining the next era of global technology. By increasing our investment in the region through this new cohort with Accel, we are helping this next wave of innovation be built responsibly on Google’s most advanced AI models.”

 

While there are no restrictions on usage, the investment firms are looking for at least one Gemini integration in the solution.

 

The collaboration follows Accel’s recent partnership with Prosus to co-invest in Atoms X, a program supporting founders building LeapTech startups.

 

Beyond capital, founders will gain access to up to $350,000 in compute credits across Google Cloud, Gemini, and DeepMind resources, along with early access to Gemini and DeepMind models, APIs, and experimental features.

 

The program includes direct support from Google Labs and DeepMind research teams with co-development opportunities, monthly mentorship sessions with Accel partners and Google technical leads, and immersion experiences in London and the Bay Area, including participation in Google I/O.

 

Founders will also benefit from marketing amplification through Accel and Google’s global channels and exclusive access to the Atoms founder network and Google’s AI builder ecosystem. Importantly, founders will have complete flexibility in model choice and can build using Gemini or whichever models best suit their use cases.

 

Accel has backed over 40 companies through ‘Accel Atoms’ and these startups have collectively raised over $300 million in follow-on funding in their journey of building category-defining businesses.