Accel, a venture capital firm based in California, has announced a new $650 million early-stage fund to invest in Indian start-ups. The firm plans to focus on fintech, AI, consumer, and manufacturing companies. Founded in 1983, Accel has offices in Palo Alto, San Francisco, London, and Bangalore.
In 2024, the firm participated in funding rounds for Rainforest, Coast, and Zepz. Accel believes the Indian start-up ecosystem has reached a critical point, driven by rising incomes, digital adoption, and investments in public infrastructure. The firm is interested in AI companies enabling enterprise use cases, integrating AI into vertical-specific applications, and leveraging India’s IT services capabilities for better automation offerings.
In fintech, Accel is looking to invest in wealth management start-ups catering to affluent consumers, fintech infrastructure, and digital distribution companies. The firm also highlighted its interest in Indian manufacturing and consumer start-ups.
Accel’s $650 million India focus
Accel supports its portfolio companies through its open-source platform, SeedToScale, which provides insights from founders and industry leaders, and its early-stage scaling program. Shekhar Kirani, partner at Accel, said the firm had the opportunity to raise “multi-billion dollars” but decided to maintain the fund size at $650 million based on a calculated analysis of India’s venture opportunity. Accel estimates that roughly 300 high-quality companies emerge annually at pre-seed to Series A stages in India, and it aims to back about 40 through 60 to 70 total investments per fund cycle.
Accel’s commitment to India spans more than 15 years, and the firm has backed successful start-ups like Swiggy, which went public in the most significant global technology IPO of 2024 at a valuation of $11.3 billion. As India’s digital infrastructure matures, Accel is betting on wealth tech start-ups in urban India and software companies building niche products on AI platforms. The firm has also turned its attention to smaller towns and villages, which it believes harbor the next wave of unicorns.
Prayank Swaroop, Partner at Accel, said, “Over the next decade, we are poised to add more to our GDP than we have in our economic history. The surface area of the opportunity for Indian founders to build and scale businesses that deliver large-scale impact is substantial.
