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Accel offers $1M to Indian-origin startup founders
Start-ups selected by Accel Atoms AI will receive up to $1 million in funding and perks worth more than $5 million from Accel's network partners.
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Staff Reporter - Mon, 14, Jul 2025
- 23:25 EDT
- 13
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(From left) Prayank Swaroop and Anand Daniel / Courtesy photo
Accel, a California-based venture capital firm, recently announced the expansion of its pre-seed scaling program with the launch of two new initiatives - Accel Atoms AI and Accel Atoms X.
Open to Indian and Indian-origin founders worldwide, Accel Atoms is designed to create a seamless growth chart for new founders, building them from ground-up.
The Accel Atoms AI program seeks visionary Indian-origin founders based anywhere in the world who are using AI for business applications or building foundational tools for the AI ecosystem.
The program welcomes startups working across the AI stack—from foundational models (like small language models on the edge, video/robotics data, etc.) to infrastructure (testing tools, securing LLM systems) and applications (core AI models and agents).
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Selected startups in the AI program will receive up to $1 million in funding, perks worth more than $5 million from Accel's network partners, and personalized mentorship.
Talking about the new venture, Prayank Swaroop, Partner at Accel, said, "We’re seeing a fundamental shift where Indian founders in AI are moving to global markets earlier than ever before, to be closer to their first customers".
Talking about their potential future partners, he added, "These founders understand that while AI is borderless, execution isn’t. They’re building from day zero with global ambition, but they need the right support system to navigate cross-border complexities. That’s what we’re providing through Accel Atoms - the ability to build and iterate with the backing of capital, mentorship, and infrastructure without being constrained by geography.”
Anand Daniel, Partner at Accel, said, "Indian and Indian-origin founders are right at the center of the inflection point in AI."
He added, "The success of companies like Ema and Bridgetown Research shows us that founders tapping into the cross-border advantage - building what customers want, with great speed, and while tapping into the breadth and depth of India’s talent pool - can beat global competition by a significant margin.”
The parallel venture, Accel Atoms X, is a new track for breakthrough innovation led by Pratik Agarwal, Partner at Accel. The program focuses on LeapTech innovations that radically improve the human experience through novel products, technologies, or business models. These ideas often require long development cycles, deep conviction, and non-linear thinking.
Startups selected under this track can access up to $1 million in equity or convertible notes, access to a curated network of technologists and R&D experts, narrative and commercialization workshops, and a tight-knit peer group of mission-driven founders.
Pratik Agarwal talked about his pet project and said, "LeapTech ideas often take years of iteration before product-market fit is clear—but their ability to fundamentally reshape how we live or build is unmistakable."
He further added, "with Atoms X, we’re moving beyond the traditional cohort model to back founders right at the inception whether they're still refining the idea or pre-revenue. Our goal is to offer early conviction and a deeply supportive ecosystem from day zero."
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