New Delhi, Oct. 27 -- Venture capital firm Accel has partnered with Dutch investment group Prosus to expand Atoms X, its early-stage programme for entrepreneurs, with a focus on startups building LeapTech, a term Accel uses for innovation at the intersection of deep technology and large-scale impact.
Under the arrangement, Prosus will match Accel's investment in each selected startup, the two firms said in a statement. The partnership aims to support Indian founders from the seed stage to scale, combining Accel's early-stage focus with Prosus's access to long-term capital and global markets, they said.
"This is not just a co-investment arrangement. It's about expanding the LeapTech ecosystem through Atoms X," said Pratik Agarwal, partner at Accel. "We're seeing a new wave of founders in India who are inventing from first principles rather than iterating on existing models."
Ashutosh Sharma, head of India at Prosus, called it the investment firm's first partnership of this kind globally. "Accel is a natural fit for us. We see strong potential in LeapTech founders solving global problems through science and engineering," he said.
Accel and Prosus have previously worked together on several Indian startups, and the new partnership builds on that relationship. Accel has backed over 40 companies through its Atoms programme, and about a third have raised follow-on funding from other investors.
Startups in deep and frontier technology attracted more than $80 billion in global venture funding in 2024, with India contributing about 6-8%, according to PitchBook and Bain data, the two investors said. The firms expect the collaboration to increase both deal flow and institutional support for early-stage founders working in advanced manufacturing, energy transition, and AI-led automation.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.