Accel and Prosus, renowned investors, have joined forces to launch a new investment alliance aimed at supporting Indian startups right from their inception. This partnership focuses on backing founders who are developing solutions on a large scale to cater to the masses in India.
Announced recently, this collaboration signifies Prosus’ first foray into investing at the early stages of startups. Both Accel and Prosus will invest together in startups from their earliest days, concentrating on companies that are tackling systemic challenges in various sectors like automation, energy transition, internet services, and manufacturing.
India, with a population of over 1.4 billion, is experiencing rapid growth in its digital economy. The country boasts over a billion internet users and more than 700 million smartphone users, making it the second-largest smartphone market globally after China. The digital infrastructure created by the Indian government, including platforms like the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Aadhaar, has enabled startups to swiftly build and scale their services. However, most of the startup activity in India has revolved around adapting global business models, with fewer companies addressing significant domestic challenges. The Accel-Prosus partnership aims to shift this paradigm.
This collaboration expands Accel’s early-stage founder program, Atoms X, which was introduced in July to support startups focusing on solving large-scale, systems-driven problems.
Pratik Agarwal, a partner at Accel, expressed, “We believe that now is the opportune time for the Indian startup ecosystem to transition from adapting global businesses to creating indigenous models that can propel India towards becoming a developed nation.”
He further highlighted the challenges faced by startups working on solutions for the masses, emphasizing the need for early capital to fuel their growth without facing excessive dilution or setbacks.
