Top VC firm Accel to nurture 8 early-stage startups in India

Leading venture capital firm Accel on Thursday announced eight early-stage startups in India which are part of the third cohort of its accelerator programme called 'Atoms'.

The cohort receives up to $500,000 in funding, access to perks worth more than $5 million from Accel's network partners, personalised mentorship, and the opportunity to collaborate with a strong peer community of founders from past cohorts and portfolio founders.

The 24 startups, which were part of the two previous Atoms cohorts, have raised over $200 million in funding since the launch of the programme, the VC firm said in a statement.

“We believe we have found the next wave of disruptors in AI and Industry 5.0, and the proof of this has been witnessing the growth of each of these startups since joining the programme,” said Prayank Swaroop, Partner at Accel.

“As part of Atoms 3.0, founders are also learning how to build that muscle for resilience and agility,” Swaroop added.

The four AI startups that are part of Atoms 3.0 are: Tune AI, a GenAI stack for enterprises; Skoob, a generative AI platform for reading; Meritic, a storytelling co-pilot for financial planning and analysis; and Arivihan, India's first AI-based, fully automated learning platform.

The two industry 5.0 startups in this cohort are: Spintly, an IoT platform for smart buildings; and Asets, a multidisciplinary CAD, simulation and engineering design platform.

The two remaining startups from the cohort are in stealth mode.

Barath Shankar Subramanian, Partner at Accel, said that the 6-month 'Atoms 3.0' journey is giving founders “insight into critical zero-to-1 areas like hiring, getting your first 10 customers, or tuning your pitch for investors”.

“Through one-on-one sessions with their domain leaders, the founders also get clarity on how to action those learnings and lay out their roadmap for each month,” Subramanian added.

Accel has been the first partner to many of India's most successful startups, including Flipkart, Freshworks, Swiggy, Urban Company, Zetwerk and Cure.fit.