Google, Accel Open Pre-Seed Program to Tap India’s Early AI Wave
Founders can access up to $2 million in support and early access to Google’s advanced AI models.
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Google’s AI Futures Fund and Accel Atoms have launched a new pre-seed program in India to identify founders working at the earliest phase of company creation, in one of the deepest pushes yet by global investors to capture India’s accelerating AI wave.
Founders may receive up to $2 million in combined funding support and as much as $350,000 in compute credits, a level of backing unusual at India’s pre-seed stage.
The program will offer pre-seed startups access to capital, technical support, and early access to select AI models, including Gemini, Imagen, and Veo, that are typically rolled out to a limited set of developers before wider availability.
Founders selected for the cohort will also receive guidance from researchers, engineers, product specialists, and go-to-market mentors across the ecosystem, along with Google Cloud credits and technical support to build and scale AI-driven products.
Startups may additionally seek equity investment from both Accel and Google.
The initiative reflects a growing belief among global technology investors that India’s next generation of founders will build AI-heavy products from the start rather than retrofit them later.
Accel and Google said the programme is targeted at 0–1 operators working in creativity, productivity, workflow automation, entertainment and other high-velocity adoption areas.
“India’s founders will play a leading role in defining the next era of global technology,” said Jonathan Silber, Co-Founder and Director of the AI Futures Fund, noting that the cohort is intended to help early companies build responsibly on advanced AI models.
Applications for the Accel Atoms x AI Futures Fund cohort are now live on Accel India’s portal. The program will run as a structured, time-bound cohort, with founders expected to begin work under the new batch in February.
