India is emerging as a key market in the global generative AI landscape, attracting growing attention from major technology investors. According to Jonathan Silber, cofounder and director of the Google AI Futures Fund, the next unicorn founder in generative AI is likely to come from India.
Silber said the country has a strong record of innovation and a fast-growing startup ecosystem. The global investment programme by Google was first launched in May 2025 and later introduced in India in Nov 2025. The initiative entered the Indian market through a partnership with Atoms, an early-stage platform created by venture capital firm Accel.
“This is the first time that Google’s AI futures fund has done such a collaboration anywhere in the world. We didn’t do it randomly, like very intentionally chose India, because we think there’s tremendous opportunity here,” Silber said.
Accel is a well-known investor in several global AI companies, including Anthropic, Synthesia and Cursor.
As part of the first cohort of the joint investment programme in India, the two organisations selected 5 startups in Mar from a pool of 4,000 applications. Each selected startup will receive $1 million in funding along with $350,000 in compute credits. Additional benefits include access to advanced foundational AI models developed by Google.
The startups chosen for the programme include K-Dense, Dodge.ai, Persistence Labs, Zingroll and Level Plane.
India has witnessed rapid growth in AI startups in recent years. Prayank Swaroop, partner at Accel, said that in 2024 many AI startups were focused on building wrappers around existing models for sectors such as marketing, hiring and edtech. At that time, only 10% of the ideas were considered unique.
“Now the situation is 40% unique because how the same AI can apply to different sectors have changed,” he said.
With the rise of agentic AI and voice-based technologies, founders are increasingly exploring how AI solutions can address Indian business and consumer needs while also competing in global markets.
Also read: Viksit Workforce for a Viksit Bharat
Do Follow: The Mainstream LinkedIn | The Mainstream Facebook | The Mainstream Youtube | The Mainstream Twitter
About us:
The Mainstream is a premier platform delivering the latest updates and informed perspectives across the technology business and cyber landscape. Built on research-driven, thought leadership and original intellectual property, The Mainstream also curates summits & conferences that convene decision makers to explore how technology reshapes industries and leadership. With a growing presence in India and globally across the Middle East, Africa, ASEAN, the USA, the UK and Australia, The Mainstream carries a vision to bring the latest happenings and insights to 8.2 billion people and to place technology at the centre of conversation for leaders navigating the future.
