Prosus, Accel pick six startups for Atoms X deep-tech LeapTech cohort

Early-stage ventures span climate infrastructure, satellite communications, healthcare and space systems, with focus on long-horizon deep-tech innovation

Investment firms Prosus and Accel have selected six startups for the inaugural Atoms X LeapTech cohort, backing early-stage ventures working on technologies ranging from air-quality infrastructure and satellite communications to cancer detection and reusable space launch systems. The programme aims to support founders building frontier technologies from the earliest stages, including areas such as healthy ageing and brain-computer interfaces.

 

The cohort, selected from over 2,000 applications, focuses on LeapTech—innovations that combine scientific breakthroughs and engineering ambition to deliver step-change progress in foundational areas. The selected companies span diverse sectors, covering climate infrastructure, space communications, aerospace launch systems, and next-generation healthcare.

 

“LeapTech requires conviction to build companies years before there is consensus. The quality of applications exceeded our expectations for Accel Atoms X, showing how Indian founders around the world are building breakthroughs to commercialise science and create all-new categories,” said Pratik Agarwal, partner at Accel. “We are excited to partner and work closely with the cohort to tackle foundational problems with the long-term thinking required to create enduring, population-scale impact.”

 

Under the Accel–Prosus alliance, Prosus matches Accel’s investment in each company. This provides founders with long-term, global capital certainty to pursue complex, long-horizon ideas without compromise. The Atoms X programme offers capital, mentorship, and access to global partners.

 

Ashutosh Sharma, head of India ecosystem at Prosus, said Prosus brings global scale, operating know-how, and patient capital to this partnership. “Our role alongside Accel is to clear the path—whether that’s capital, global networks, or operational muscle—so these founders can think in decades, not quarters,” said Sharma. “Through Prosus Ventures, our ambition is to turn breakthrough technology into everyday reality at population scale. Atoms X is how we bring that belief to Day Zero.”

 

The inaugural Atoms X cohort includes Praan, which is building full-stack air infrastructure to improve indoor air quality through purification, sensing and automated environmental control. Qosmic is developing optical communication systems for high-speed data transfer between satellites and Earth. Dognosis is working on cancer detection using breath analysis with canine olfaction, robotics and AI. Ethereal Exploration Guild is building reusable orbital launch vehicles to reduce launch costs and increase frequency. Ferra is developing a home-based strength training system focused on healthy ageing. One startup in the cohort remains in stealth and is working on brain-computer interface technology.

 

The announcement builds on the broader Accel Atoms programme launched in 2021, through which Accel has backed over 50 companies, and these startups have collectively raised over $300 million in follow-on funding in their journey of building category-defining businesses. Together, these initiatives represent a new era for early-stage innovation in India, where global capital and technology converge to accelerate founder journeys.