Accel, Prosus Join Hands for Early-Stage Investments in India

An​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ India-focused early-stage startup company has naturally attracted co-investments by U.S.-based venture capital firm Accel and Dutch technology investor Prosus. The products studied are those for advanced manufacturing, energy transition, and AI-driven automation.

The collaboration with Prosus expands Accel's Atoms X program that supports startup founders in their early stages. Prosus will match Accel's investments in the shortlisted startups one by one. According to Pratik Agarwal, Accel partner, the agreement seed funding will be around $200,000 and $2 million depending on the check.

Speaking of the motivation behind the partnerships, he stated that the chief objective is to be on the side of entrepreneurs who make new technological innovations or come up with disruptive business models that have the potential to scale very fast. "We each commit to an initial investment range of $100,000–$1 million with a possibility to double the stake in the winning founders," explained Agarwal.

It is worth noting that this transition from growth and late-stage ventures to early-stage India investment marks Prosus first significant move in the region's startup scene.

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Ashutosh Sharma, Head of India Ecosystem at Prosus, said, "This is the first and only type of cooperation globally for Prosus." "We are always on the lookout for bold entrepreneurs who have the potential to influence millions of people in emerging markets," he added.

Both VC firms are highly synergistic and have thrilled several times in Indian start-ups scenarios to jointly back Swiggy, BlueStone, Urban Company, and Captain Fresh. The duet also loves and funds new ventures in the space like Arivihan, KGeN, and CodeKarma, fairly recently.

Prosus’ objective is to very selectively invest in about five to six early-stage deals a year. They particularly focus on factors such as quality, and long-term potential rather than on the number of deals.