Storied buyers Accel and Prosus have launched a brand new funding partnership to again Indian startups from day zero, focusing on founders constructing large-scale options with the potential to serve the lots within the South Asian nation.

Introduced on Monday, the collaboration marks the primary time Prosus is investing on the formation stage. Each corporations will co-invest from a startup’s earliest days, with a give attention to firms addressing systemic challenges throughout sectors corresponding to automation, vitality transition, web companies, and manufacturing.

India, the world’s most populous nation with over 1.4 billion folks, 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 such because the Unified Funds Interface (UPI) and Aadhaar have created a digital infrastructure that allows startups to construct and scale companies shortly. But a lot of India’s startup exercise so far has targeted on adapting world enterprise fashions, with fewer firms tackling large-scale home challenges. The Accel–Prosus alliance is trying 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 — firms engaged on large-scale, systems-driven issues.

“We really feel now the time is correct for the Indian startup ecosystem to maneuver from adapting world companies to creating Indian fashions that assist India leapfrog its journey in changing into a developed nation,” stated Pratik Agarwal, a associate at Accel, in an interview.

He added that startups engaged on population-scale options usually wrestle to boost enough early capital, given their lengthy gestation intervals and the chance of heavy dilution earlier than reaching significant traction.

“Hopefully, we’re bringing much more early capital to them on the proper time in order that they’ll make substantial progress with out going via a number of rounds of false begins earlier than they make progress,” he instructed TechCrunch.

Beneath the partnership, Prosus has dedicated to match Accel’s funding in every firm, with preliminary checks starting from $100,000 to $1 million — a determine that might enhance over time.

“We may each proceed to do our personal issues on this area, however given how massive the ambition is with these founders, and given how troublesome an issue that they’re making an attempt to resolve, it made all of the sense for us to place our sources collectively,” stated Ashutosh Sharma, head of India ecosystem at Prosus.

Historically, Prosus has targeted 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 isn’t searching for an equal fairness stake.

“For us, getting that fairness within the first spherical will not be vital in any respect,” he instructed TechCrunch. “If we are able to actually determine a Swiggy, a Meesho, an iFood, or a Tencent of tomorrow — at this time — that’s success sufficient.”

The partnership additionally broadens the scope of Accel and Prosus’s exercise in India. In latest months, the 2 corporations have co-invested in startups corresponding to AI-powered tutoring platform Arivihan and low-cost web service supplier Wiom.

“Due to this AI-led disruption that’s taking place round us, some nations can be disproportionate beneficiaries of this — and a few nations can be disproportionate internet, internet losers,” stated Sharma. “Two nations that appear very positioned to be beneficiaries are the U.S. and China. Now in that world order, and in that world narrative, what’s India’s area? And may 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 opposite, let’s say, ambition that we’ve got with this program.”

The alliance comes amid rising geopolitical tensions which have disrupted capital flows, know-how provide chains, and market entry — prompting world buyers to reassess the place capital could 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 within the world financial system and the geopolitical system is such that India must chart and speed up its path like a self-sovereign, impartial, developed nation,” Agarwal instructed TechCrunch.

Accel has already backed greater than 40 startups via its early-stage program, Atoms. Over 30% of them have gone on to boost follow-on funding from exterior buyers, with Accel itself main greater than half of these rounds.

VC funding in India fell 25% year-over-year to $4.8 billion within 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 world buyers, pushed by its massive 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 most recent instance of how world VCs proceed to put long-term bets on India.