Accel partners with Google to deepen AI investment play 

Accel’s Swaroop said Google being an investor helps build trust, especially when companies are dealing with enterprises.

Accel is partnering Google to launch an AI cohort under Atoms, its seed-stage programme, the venture capital firm has announced, as the two global giants look to back more artificial intelligence companies amid an increasing appetite for such startups.

The partnership will be through Google's AI Futures Fund (AIFF). The AIFF was launched in May 2025, offering startups across various growth stages early access to Google DeepMind's latest AI models (Gemini, Imagen, and Veo) along with resources, and technical expertise apart from equity funding.

Through the alliance, beginning 2026, Google's AI Futures Fund and Accel will together invest $2 million each in at least 10 startups. Indian founders, based outside of the country, building for India and the world will also be eligible to apply for the programme, Prayank Swaroop, Partner at Accel, told media.

While Accel will put in $1 million, Google will invest another $1 million in these AI startups. Google will also give founders another $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.

Google as an investor helps build trust, especially when companies are dealing with enterprises, Swaroop said. “On the enterprise, founders have had a hard time. They build great products, but they do not get as much limelight in the US or certain other international markets because they're from India,” he told the media.

“Google helps these founders go to market. We've seen enterprise customers feel a lot more comfortable when Google is on the cap table since it is such a big brand. Google's name or even the capital gives trust to these enterprise customers,” Swaroop said.

While Google’s AIFF partnership with Accel is new, the tech giant has been bullish on India for a few years now.

In 2020, Google announced a $10-billion India Digitisation Fund as the company looks to assist in accelerating Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to digitise the Indian economy. CEO Sundar Pichai made the announcement right after his virtual meeting with Modi at the Google For India 2020 event.

Recently, Google announced a $15-billion investment to set up an AI hub in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, its biggest investment outside the US so far.

“We didn't choose India at random. We’re partnering with Accel because we know that India is going to be building the next wave of innovation. We want them to be doing that responsibly on Google's most advanced AI models,” Jonathan Silber, co-founder and director of AIFF, said.

“We chose India for a very good purpose. We have already seen incredible talent from the companies that we've been working with already.”

The partnership with Google is the latest for Accel. In October, Accel and Prosus announced plan to co-invest in early stage companies and founders as part of Atoms X, Accel’s programme.

Swaroop said Accel is open to partnering with more VC funds as it looks to create an ecosystem that will invest together, instead of competing at every stage.