Storied traders Accel and Prosus have launched a brand new funding partnership to again Indian startups from day zero, concentrating on founders constructing large-scale options with the potential to serve the plenty in the South Asian nation.
Introduced on Monday, the collaboration marks the first time Prosus is investing at the formation stage. Each corporations will co-invest from a startup’s earliest days, with a spotlight on corporations addressing systemic challenges throughout sectors resembling automation, vitality transition, web providers, and manufacturing.
India, the world’s most populous nation with over 1.4 billion individuals, is seeing speedy development in its digital financial system. The nation has more than a billion internet users and over 700 million smartphone users, making it the second-largest smartphone market after China. The Indian government-backed platforms resembling the Unified Funds Interface (UPI) and Aadhaar have created a digital infrastructure that allows startups to construct and scale providers rapidly. But a lot of India’s startup exercise to date has centered on adapting international enterprise fashions, with fewer corporations tackling large-scale home challenges. The Accel–Prosus alliance is wanting to change that.
The partnership expands Accel’s early-stage founder program, Atoms X, launched in July to again what the agency calls “leap tech” startups — corporations working on large-scale, systems-driven issues.
“We really feel now the time is proper for the Indian startup ecosystem to transfer from adapting international companies to creating Indian fashions that assist India leapfrog its journey in changing into a developed nation,” mentioned Pratik Agarwal, a accomplice at Accel, in an interview.
He added that startups working on population-scale options typically wrestle to elevate ample early capital, given their lengthy gestation intervals and the threat of heavy dilution before reaching significant traction.
“Hopefully, we are bringing much more early capital to them at the proper time in order that they’ll make substantial progress with out going via a number of rounds of false begins before they make progress,” he advised TechCrunch.
Techcrunch occasion
San Francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025
Underneath the partnership, Prosus has dedicated to match Accel’s funding in every firm, with preliminary checks ranging from $100,000 to $1 million — a determine that might improve over time.
“We might each proceed to do our personal issues on this area, however given how giant the ambition is with these founders, and given how tough an issue that they are making an attempt to clear up, it made all the sense for us to put our sources collectively,” mentioned Ashutosh Sharma, head of India ecosystem at Prosus.
Historically, Prosus has centered on late-stage investments globally. The Amsterdam-headquartered agency counts Swiggy, Meesho, and PayU amongst its key investments in India.
Whereas Prosus has dedicated to matching Accel’s funding on this partnership, Sharma indicated it is not searching for an equal fairness stake.
“For us, getting that fairness in the first spherical is not vital in any respect,” he advised TechCrunch. “If we will really establish a Swiggy, a Meesho, an iFood, or a Tencent of tomorrow — right this moment — that is success sufficient.”
The partnership additionally broadens the scope of Accel and Prosus’s exercise in India. In current months, the two corporations have co-invested in startups resembling AI-powered tutoring platform Arivihan and low-cost web service supplier Wiom.
“Due to this AI-led disruption that is occurring round us, some international locations shall be disproportionate beneficiaries of this — and a few international locations shall be disproportionate internet, internet losers,” mentioned Sharma. “Two international locations that appear very positioned to be beneficiaries are the U.S. and China. Now in that world order, and in that world narrative, what is India’s area? And might India, due to this fact, as a part of this ‘leap tech’ revolution, discover the rightful place, not simply in AI, however past AI, is the different, let’s say, ambition that now we have with this program.”
The alliance comes amid rising geopolitical tensions which have disrupted capital flows, expertise provide chains, and market entry — prompting international traders to reassess the place capital will be deployed safely and at scale. With a big home market, increasing digital infrastructure, and a deepening pool of technical expertise, India is more and more seen as a strategic precedence on this panorama.
“India’s place in the international financial system and the geopolitical system is such that India wants to chart and speed up its path like a self-sovereign, impartial, developed nation,” Agarwal advised TechCrunch.
Accel has already backed greater than 40 startups via its early-stage program, Atoms. Over 30% of them have gone on to elevate follow-on funding from external traders, with Accel itself main greater than half of these rounds.
VC funding in India fell 25% year-over-year to $4.8 billion in the first half of 2025, per Tracxn, with late-stage offers dropping 27% to $2.7 billion and early-stage funding down 16% to $1.6 billion.
Nonetheless, India stays a key focus for international traders, pushed by its giant inhabitants and increasing digital adoption. In September, eight U.S. and Indian VC and personal fairness corporations — together with Accel, Blume Ventures, Celesta Capital, and Premji Make investments — formed a coalition to back deep tech startups with over $1 billion in dedication. The Accel–Prosus partnership is the newest instance of how international VCs proceed to place long-term bets on India.
Disclaimer: This article is sourced from external platforms. OverBeta has not independently verified the information. Readers are advised to verify details before relying on them.
