Alphabet’s Google and U.S.-based venture capital firm Accel announced a strategic partnership on Thursday to co-invest in at least ten early-stage artificial intelligence startups in India.
This marks Google’s first such collaborative funding effort in the country, underscoring India’s growing importance as a global technology hub.
Under the new arrangement, Google’s AI Futures Fund and Accel will jointly invest up to $2 million in each selected startup. Prayank Swaroop, partner at Accel, told Reuters that the funding would target ventures across a broad range of sectors, including entertainment, creativity, work productivity, and coding technologies.
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The partnership is part of Google’s broader push into the Indian market, which has seen a surge in U.S. tech investments. Companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, and OpenAI have all intensified their engagement in India, drawn by a population of nearly one billion internet users and the nation’s rapidly growing technology ecosystem.
Last month, Google announced a $15 billion investment to establish an AI data center in Andhra Pradesh, its largest investment in India to date. The AI Futures Fund, launched six months prior, has already backed more than 30 companies, including the Indian webtoon platform Toonsutra and the U.S.-based legal-tech firm Harvey. Beyond funding, Google has partnered with Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecom operator, to provide free access to its Gemini AI platform for 505 million users, reflecting a dual strategy of market development and technology adoption.
Jonathan Silber, co-founder and director of Google’s AI Futures Fund, emphasized the strategic importance of India in shaping the next era of global technology.
“We firmly believe that the founders in India are going to be playing a leading role in defining that next era of global technology,” he said. “We think that 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.”
India’s AI market is poised for substantial growth, with projections indicating it could reach $17 billion by 2027, according to IT industry body Nasscom and consulting firm BCG. The global AI market is also expanding rapidly, with Gartner projecting global AI spending to approach $1.5 trillion in 2025 and exceed $2 trillion by 2026.
Some analysts see the Google-Accel partnership as part of a broader competitive race to capture the early-stage AI ecosystem in India, where government policies and market size offer a fertile ground for innovation. Startups in the country are increasingly focusing on areas such as generative AI, AI-powered productivity tools, and creative content platforms, seeking to position themselves for both domestic growth and global expansion.
The partnership aims to nurture a new generation of Indian AI companies capable of competing on the world stage by combining financial backing with strategic support and access to Google’s AI infrastructure. It is believed that these early-stage investments are critical, as they often determine which startups can survive and scale in the highly competitive global AI market.
The move also reflects a broader trend of tech giants viewing India not merely as a consumer market but as a source of innovation and engineering talent. With a growing pool of AI researchers and entrepreneurs, India is emerging as a central node in the global AI landscape, attracting billions of dollars in funding and collaboration from U.S. and other international technology players.