VC firm Accel unveils Atoms 3.0 with a focus on AI, Industry 5.0

New Delhi: Global VC firm Accel on Tuesday unveiled the new avatar of its Atoms programme called 'Atoms 3.0' which will have two theme/sector-based cohorts - Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Industry 5.0. The programme was launched 21 months ago, and since then, Atoms has invested in 24 companies across two cohorts. These companies have since raised a total of over $160 million in funding. Applications for Atoms 3.0 will open by the end of May. Atoms is constantly evolving and looking to improve the programme for founders. With this new approach, the programme aims to foster a community of like-minded founders in the same domain who can collaborate and help each other succeed.

In addition, the company mentioned that the redesigned Atoms 3.0 programme will offer personalised learning, sector-specific mentors, and up to $5,00,000 in seed investment for each selected startup, plus, these cohort startups will get access to Accel's growing global community.

"Accel strives to partner with companies at the very early stages to support them in becoming successful. Zero-to-one is the most challenging journey for an entrepreneur, as it sets the foundation for the business - that is what Atoms 3.0 hopes to accomplish for our founders. Based on feedback from our founders in cohorts 1 and cohort 2 - we launched Atoms 3.0 as a thematic cohort programme," said Prayank Swaroop, Partner at Accel. "Perpetual Beta is the name of the game with Atoms - we hope to further improve the Atoms programme in the future, thematic cohorts are our own PMF experiments in startup building," he added. With the AI cohort - Atoms are looking for companies that are using AI innovatively for business applications as well as companies that are building development tools for the AI ecosystem. Accel has invested in AI companies in the past like Spyne.ai, DubDub, Mihup, Effectiv, Scale.ai, Akridata, etc. With the Industry 5.0 cohort, Atoms is committed to nurturing and enabling this industrial revolution and has earlier actively invested in this space (Detect Technologies, Haber Water, and Ripik).

Each cohort will consist of a small number of companies and will have its own duration and methodology for helping these companies prepare to succeed. According to the company, closed groups enable better collaboration, interaction, exchange of ideas, and collective growth, providing a more personalised learning journey.

An industry-specific cohort enables the marshalling of resources, customer connections, and industry experts to provide deeper assistance to the companies involved. Over two cohorts, Atoms has invested in 24 startups ranging from SaaS, B2B marketplaces, Web3, D2C, hardware, health & wellness, to hardware and e-commerce. Since joining the Atoms program, these startups have further raised over $160mn, with Accel leading or participating in follow on rounds. Accel partners with Indian founders to create exceptional companies from the very start. The VC firm has been the first or among the earliest partners to many other category-defining start-ups in India such as BookMyShow, Browserstack, Flipkart, Freshworks, FalconX, and Infra.Market, Chargebee, Clevertap, Cure Fit, Musigma, Moneyview, Mensa Brands, Myntra, Moglix, Ninjacart, Swiggy, Stanza Living, Urban Company, Zetwerk, and Zenoti, among many others.