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Dutch technology investor Prosus and US-based venture capital firm Accel have entered into a partnership to co-invest in early-stage Indian startups across areas such as advanced manufacturing, energy transition and artificial intelligence-based automation, according to a joint statement.The tie-up expands Atoms X, Accel’s early-stage founder programme, with Prosus set to match Accel’s investments in each selected startup. On a combined basis, the cheque size for seed investments under this programme will range between $200,000 and $2 million, Accel partner Pratik Agarwal told ET.The programme will look to back companies that are either innovating on technology or working on novel business models, he said, adding, “In the beginning, each of us will invest $100,000 to $1 million…and that will move the needle for some of these early-stage companies. Hopefully, we can find more opportunities to double down on these founders.”Accel’s Atoms X programme is focused on startups in their initial stages but building businesses with potentially large-scale addressable markets.For Prosus, which invests in companies at growth or later stages, this will result in increased exposure to India’s early-stage startup ecosystem.“It’s an addition to what we already do on the early stage. At Prosus, we always look to back companies that can have an impact across millions of people in emerging markets. There is a section of entrepreneurs who want to take very audacious bets but they find it hard to reach a place where they get interesting for Prosus,” said Ashutosh Sharma, head of India ecosystem at Prosus.Prosus and Accel have been co-investors in several large new-age Indian companies, including listed firms Swiggy, BlueStone and Urban Company, besides Captain Fresh, which is preparing to go public. The two investors also recently backed edtech startup Arivihan, former Nazara Technology CEO Manish Agarwal’s decentralised gaming platform KGeN and developer productivity startup CodeKarma.“This is Prosus’ first collaboration of its kind globally. Accel is a natural partner to join hands with,” Sharma said. “We did three late-stage deals last year in India – Rapido, Mintifi and Vastu Housing – but we did seven early-stage deals. So, it’s not new for us… but the lens that Prosus has taken for early-stage investing is that these companies have to be extremely exciting. So, we won’t do 40-50 investments a year but more in the range of five to six.”
