Accel targets AI adopters and builders in India, SEA

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Thu Huong Le also contributed to this report. 

Despite the rush by companies in Southeast Asia and India to adopt artificial intelligence, there are not yet enough AI builders in these two regions, according to Accel partner Prayank Swaroop.

He believes that one of the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs in these two markets is building localized AI solutions when most of the available data sets are in Western languages.

For companies that do adopt AI, he warns that the tech is not a guarantee of success.

“Customers don’t care whether you use AI or not. They are only willing to pay more money if you can do a better job than before,” Swaroop said in a recent interview with Tech in Asia.

Still, Accel – a 40-year-old household name in venture capital whose portfolio includes the likes of Facebook, Dropbox, Slack – can’t sit outside this latest technology race. It calls the rise of AI “as pivotal as the inventions of electricity, internet, and the cloud.”

Accel has invested in several Indian firms that deal with AI, including Spyne.ai, DubDub, Mihup, Effectiv, and Scale.ai.

For this year, the VC firm has made Atoms 3.0, its accelerator program for early-stage companies in India and Southeast Asia, focus on two sectors: AI and Industry 5.0.

This is the first time that Atoms has used a theme since its launch in 2021. The redesigned Atoms 3.0 program will offer sector-specific mentors as well as up to US$500,000 in seed investment for selected startups.

Accel said it has done more than 20 investments via Atoms. Since joining the program, these startups have further raised over US$160 million, with Accel leading or participating in follow-on rounds.

While AI has dominated headlines, the VC firm is also putting a focus on Industry 5.0, which refers to companies in the manufacturing and industrial segments.

Barath Shankar Subramanian, a partner who leads Atoms 3.0’s Industry 5.0 cohort, said there has been a massive push in India to increase manufacturing capacity to save the global economy. 

He sees AI as more of an enabler to Industry 5.0 companies, which are essentially users of the tech.