Google, Accel initiative targets India’s next wave of AI startups

Google’s AI Futures Fund and Accel Atoms are launching a programme to accelerate AI innovation in India, opening applications for a new cohort that will begin in February 2026 and target pre-seed startups working at the earliest stage of product development.

Jonathan Silber, Co-founder and Director of the AI Futures Fund, explained that the fund expects India’s founders to help shape the next era of global technology and said the new cohort is designed to give them responsible access to Google’s most advanced models.

The joint Accel Atoms and AI Futures Fund programme will give selected founders early use of Google DeepMind models such as Gemini for reasoning tasks, Imagen for image generation and Veo for video creation, according to blog posts.

Startups will also receive Google Cloud credits and technical support that will help them build, train and scale their systems. Google and Accel engineers, product specialists and go-to-market advisers will provide further mentorship.

The programme builds on Accel Atoms, which is Accel India’s pre-seed scaling initiative. 

Applications for the new cohort will run through the Accel India portal. The posts noted the programme is intended for founders at the 0 to 1 stage and will combine capital, model access and operational guidance to accelerate both product development and early commercial traction.

Google’s blogs added that the partners may offer direct equity investment for selected startups as they progress. This structure aligns with a broader industry movement in which large technology firms collaborate with venture funds to support early-stage artificial intelligence developers. 

The collaboration is part of a wider effort to strengthen India’s engineering and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Details of eligibility and the application process are available through the Accel India portal and Google’s AI Futures Fund pages.