Google partners with Accel to back early-stage AI startups; here's what the program offers

Google’s AI Futures Fund and venture capital firm Accel are launching a new programme to accelerate artificial intelligence innovation in India, the companies said on Tuesday, as global tech giants race to tap into the country’s fast-growing digital economy.

The programme, run under Accel’s pre-seed scaling programme Atoms, will support early-stage founders building AI applications across sectors such as entertainment, creativity, work and coding.

The Accel Atoms x AI Futures Fund programme will support early-stage founders building AI-led products, offering early access to advanced Google DeepMind models such as Gemini, Imagen for image generation and Veo for video creation.

Startups will also receive cloud credits, technical support from Google Cloud teams, and mentoring from researchers, engineers and product specialists from Google, Accel and the wider ecosystem.

Under the partnership, Google’s AI Futures Fund and Accel will co-invest up to $2 million in each startup, according to a Reuters report.

The fund, launched six months ago, has already backed more than 30 companies, including Indian webtoon platform Toonsutra and US-based legal-tech startup Harvey.

“At the AI Futures Fund, we believe India’s founders will play a leading role in defining the next era of global technology,” Jonathan Silber, co-founder and director of the fund, said in a statement.

The push into India comes as US tech majors such as Microsoft, Amazon and OpenAI step up investments in the world’s most populous nation, where nearly a billion people access the internet and demand for AI tools continues to surge.

Google last month pledged $15 billion over five years to build an AI data centre in Andhra Pradesh, its largest commitment to India so far, and has partnered with Reliance Jio to provide free access to its Gemini AI model for more than 500 million users.

India’s AI market is projected to reach $17 billion by 2027, according to IT industry body Nasscom and consulting firm BCG. Global AI spending is expected to hit nearly $1.5 trillion in 2025 and surpass $2 trillion in 2026, Gartner estimates.