India will produce the next AI unicorns, according to the head of Google AI Fund

India has emerged as a critical market for generative artificial intelligence, and Google believes the next unicorn founder in the GenAI space could come from the country, according to Jonathan Silber.

Speaking to The Economic Times, Silber said India’s strong track record of innovation and entrepreneurial talent makes it a key region for the future of AI startups. He added that Google expects the next generation of influential AI founders to emerge from India.

The Google AI Futures Fund, which invests in artificial intelligence startups globally, was launched in May 2025. The programme was introduced in India in November 2025 through a partnership with Atoms and Accel’s early-stage investment platform in India.

According to Silber, the collaboration is the first time the Google AI Futures Fund has partnered with another organisation for such a programme anywhere in the world. He said India was intentionally chosen because of the significant opportunity the market presents for AI innovation.

Accel has been a major investor in several global AI companies, including Anthropic, Synthesia and Cursor.

As part of the first cohort of the joint investment programme in India, Google and Accel selected five startups in March from more than 4,000 applications. Each of the selected companies will receive an investment of $1 million along with $350,000 in computing credits and access to Google’s advanced AI models and other resources.

The five startups chosen for the programme include K-Dense, Dodge.ai, Persistence Labs, Zingroll and Level Plane.

India has seen rapid growth in artificial intelligence startups over the past few years. Prayank Swaroop said that in 2024, many AI startups were still building simple applications on top of existing models for areas such as marketing, hiring and education technology, with only about 10 percent of the ideas considered truly unique.

However, Swaroop noted that the ecosystem has evolved significantly. He said around 40 percent of new AI startup ideas are now unique as entrepreneurs better understand how the same AI technologies can be applied across different industries.

The rise of technologies such as agentic AI and voice-based AI has also encouraged founders to focus on solutions designed specifically for Indian businesses and consumers, while still aiming to compete globally.

Silber said Google is seeing strong innovation among Indian founders, particularly those with deep domain expertise who are using AI to build scalable businesses from India. This growing momentum is one of the reasons the company wants to expand its investment efforts in the country.

For Accel, the partnership provides early access to promising AI founders at a time when venture capital firms are competing intensely to back the best startups. Swaroop said talented AI entrepreneurs have become highly sought after in the venture capital ecosystem.

He added that the collaboration with Google also helps Accel differentiate itself by offering startups access to global markets, advanced research and technical expertise.

Silber said Google works closely with companies in the programme through evaluation initiatives and feedback systems. Insights from the startups are shared with the research and product teams at Google DeepMind, helping improve the company’s AI models.

The updated models are then provided back to the startups, creating what Silber described as a feedback loop that helps both the startups and Google continuously improve their AI technologies.