Accel India’s Atoms Help 10 Indian Startups

A pre-seed investment and support program named “Atoms” was introduced last year by Accel India to build a community of entrepreneurs who can learn from each other. Accel’s Atoms’ second cohort was introduced this year, under which 10 new startups were selected, which are in their early pre-seed and seed-stage – and helped in their journey ahead.

“We are aware of the requirements that entrepreneurs have at the outset of their journey. The Atoms (program) was developed to help these founders on their quest to find prosperous businesses.

The program provides the startups with $250,000 in non-dilutive capital, one-on-one mentorship by established Indian entrepreneurs and business leaders, and access to the global Accel community. The initiative also encourages businesses to support each other.

Prayank Swaroop, Partner at Accel India, says, “Our goal is to be the first partner for founders.” The zero-to-one journey of an entrepreneur is the most challenging as it sets the foundation for the company. Accel has a deep understanding of what founders need from the very beginning of their journey. “Atoms” was created to assist these founders in their journey to build successful companies.

The ten start-ups chosen for the second cohort are BRIK, DataBrain, DhiWise, Dpanda, Fishlog, Gut Wellness Club, Mello, Ripik, Upflowy, and Youshd.

The selected startups will undergo 100 days of learning and development. This 100-day “Atomic Journey” will guide the founders toward building a scalable venture through workshops, setting OKRs, building a strong peer community, and much more.

The program is also expanding geographically; the first Atom cohort was limited to Indian startups, but this second round includes businesses across five different jurisdictions. The second cohort also differs from the first in the way it has added startups to the program. Accel isn’t taking all the companies at the same time, but slowly over time.