FILE PHOTO: The Google logo is seen on the Google house at CES 2024, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. January 10, 2024. REUTERS/Steve Marcus/File Photo
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Alphabet's Google and venture capital firm Accel will partner to fund at least 10 early-stage Indian AI startups, marking the U.S. technology giant's first such funding partnership, top executives at the companies said on Thursday.
The move comes as several U.S. tech firms like Microsoft, Amazon and OpenAI make a beeline for the world's most populous nation, seen as a critical growth market where nearly a billion users access the internet.
Under the partnership, Google's AI Futures Fund and Accel will co-invest up to $2 million in each startup, Prayank Swaroop, partner at Accel, told Reuters in an interview, with the investments focussed on the wide areas of entertainment, creativity, work and coding.
The announcement comes after Google in October said it would invest $15 billion over five years to set up an AI data centre in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, its biggest-ever investment in the country.
Its AI Futures Fund, launched six months ago, has funded over 30 companies, including Indian webtoon startup Toonsutra and U.S.-based legal-tech firm Harvey. Google has also teamed up with India's largest telecom operator Reliance Jio to provide free access to Gemini AI for 505 million users.
"We firmly believe that the founders in India, they are going to be playing a leading role in defining that next era of global technology," Jonathan Silber, co-founder and director of Google's AI Futures Fund, said.
"...we think that it's critical to invest in the early stage. Particularly in key markets like India, so that we can be at the forefront of investing in the next generation of AI leaders."
India's AI market is projected to reach $17 billion by 2027, according to IT industry body Nasscom and consulting firm BCG.
Global AI spend is seen at nearly $1.5 trillion in 2025, and will exceed $2 trillion in 2026, as per market research firm Gartner.
(Reporting by Abhirami G and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
