Alphabet Inc.’s Google and venture capital firm Accel are set to partner to fund at least 10 early-stage AI startups in India, the first funding partnership involving the search giant.
Under the partnership, Google’s AI Futures Fund and Accel will co-invest up to $2 million in each startup, Accel partner Prayank Swaroop told Reuters in an interview, with investments focused on a wide range of areas in entertainment, creativity, jobs and coding.
The move comes as several U.S. tech companies, including Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and OpenAI, are among the first to enter the world’s most populous country, seen as a key growth market with nearly 1 billion users accessing the internet.
Google announced in October that it would invest $15 billion over five years to set up an AI data center in Andhra Pradesh. This is the largest investment ever made outside the United States. The company’s AI Futures Fund was launched six months ago and has funded more than 30 companies, including Indian webcomic startup Toonsutra and US-based legal tech company Harvey. Google also partnered with India’s largest carrier Reliance Jio to provide free access to Gemini AI to its 50.5 billion users.
India’s AI market is expected to reach $17 billion by 2027, according to IT industry body Nascom and consulting firm BCG. According to Gartner, global AI spending is expected to reach nearly $1.5 trillion in 2025 and exceed $2 trillion in 2026.
“We strongly believe that Indian founders will play a leading role in defining the next era of global technology,” said Jonathan Silver, co-founder and director of Google AI Futures Fund. “We believe it is important to invest at an early stage, especially in key markets like India, so that we can be at the forefront of investing in the next generation of AI leaders.”
