Bengaluru, Nov. 25 -- Global venture capital firm Accel has partnered with Google AI Futures Fund (AIFF) to jointly invest up to $1 million in Indian artificial intelligence (AI) startups, amid bets that the country will be a hotbed for the next wave of AI innovations.

The target startups must be a part of Accel's Atoms accelerator programme - an early-stage support initiative for Indian and Indian-origin founders. Accel started the Atoms programme back in 2021 and has so far invested in nine AI companies through the accelerator. These are: Anko, BPR Hub, dubdub.ai, FinSynth, HighRev.ai, Ripik.ai, Rocket (formerly known as DhiWise), Skoob, and Zingle.

Since the launch of Atoms, Accel has seen a shift in the kind of AI companies it backs...