Alphabet Inc.’s Google and venture capital firm Accel will partner to fund at least 10 early-stage Indian AI startups, in the first such 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 the investments focussed on the wide areas of entertainment, creativity, work and coding.
The move comes as several US tech firms like Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and OpenAI make a beeline for the world’s most populous nation, seen as a critical growth market where nearly a billion users access the internet.
In October, Google said it would invest $15 billion over five years to set up an AI data centre in Andhra Pradesh—its biggest-ever investment outside the US. Its AI Futures Fund, launched six months ago, has funded over 30 companies, including Indian webtoon startup Toonsutra and US-based legal-tech firm Harvey. Google has also teamed up with India’s largest telecom operator Reliance Jio to provide free access to Gemini AI for 50.5 crore 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 spend is seen at nearly $1.5 trillion in 2025, and will exceed $2 trillion in 2026, according to Gartner.
“We firmly believe that the founders in India, they are going to be playing a leading role in defining that next era of global technology,” said Jonathan Silber, co-founder and director of Google’s AI Futures Fund. “We think it’s critical to invest in the early stage—particularly in key markets like India, so that we can be at the forefront of investing in the next generation of AI leaders.”