VC firm Accel to invest up to $1 million in pre-seed startups in AI, Bharat

Bengaluru, Sep 12: Leading global venture capital firm Accel on Thursday announced the launch of Accel Atoms 4.0, the fourth edition of its pre-seed scaling programme. Selected startups will receive up to $1 million in funding through equity or convertible note, and access perks worth more than $5 million from Accel’s network partners.

Building on the success of three previous editions, the programme is designed to make a founders’ journey as frictionless as possible.

Accel Atoms 4.0 is inviting applications from two categories of pre-seed startups — those building for ‘Bharat’ and AI (artificial intelligence). The VC firm defines ‘Bharat’ as the middle-income households spread across Tier 2, Tier 3 and rural India.

“The Bharat opportunity is immense and we see multiple multi-billion-dollar startups emerging from this opportunity. The top 20 per cent of the rural population has a higher MPCE (monthly per capita expenditure) than 50 per cent of the urban population. This highlights substantial purchasing power that is often overlooked,” said Anand Daniel, Partner at Accel.

“Innovative founders will leverage the infrastructural advancements in these regions to create scalable, economically feasible solutions tailored to Bharat's evolving needs. With Accel Atoms 4.0, we are excited to give founders the guidance, network of support, and capital to succeed at delivering solutions to the underserved audience in Bharat,” he added.

Startups at the pre-seed stage, including idea-stage and pre-product companies, are eligible to apply. Founders in Accel Atoms 4.0 will also have access to its global community of over 200 founders, mentors, and potential customers.

Prayank Swaroop, Partner at Accel, said they want to give Indian-origin founders globally the best foundations for success.

“Accel has invested in over 27 early-stage AI companies by Indian-origin founders in the last two years. The Accel Atoms 4.0 AI cohort will have personalised 1-on-1 mentorship from global AI leaders of the Indian diaspora, and Accel’s network of AI founders and senior level operators. We are setting the stage to support Indian founders to build AI from India, for India and for the world,” Swaroop explained.

For the AI cohort, Accel is looking for startups by visionary Indian-origin founders based anywhere in the world building companies that are using AI innovatively for business applications or building development tools for the AI ecosystem. For the Bharat cohort, Accel is looking to back founders building for Bharat across sectors.

Applications for Accel Atoms 4.0 will open on September 16, 2024 which can be accessed at https://atoms.accel.com.

Since its inception in 2021, Accel Atoms has supported 32 startups, which have collectively raised over $200 million so far.