Accel Raises $650 Million Fund to Back Start-Ups in AI, Fintech, and More

Accel, a leading global venture capital firm, has raised a $650 million early-stage fund to build disruptive and category-defining businesses. The VC, in an official statement, said areas like AI, fintech, manufacturing, and consumers are reshaping industries and addressing the need of an evolving market.

“Digital adoption is accelerating across urban and rural India, and founders are poised to solve real-world challenges and create solutions of global relevance. We believe the next wave of category-creating companies will come from those who can combine innovation with a deep understanding of customer needs,” said Prayank Swaroop, Partner at Accel. 

“India is at an inflection point. Over the next decade, we are poised to add more to our GDP than we have in our economic history. The surface area of the opportunity for Indian founders to build and scale businesses that deliver large-scale impact is huge,” he added.

Also Read | Accel Raises $650 Million for Its 8th India Fund After IPO Wins, Big Exits

Sectors in Focus

With this fund, the VC firm will focus on sectors like artificial intelligence (AI), consumer brands, fintech, and manufacturing. These include Enterprise AI --- platforms that enable enterprise AI use cases using agentic technologies, LLMs, and SLMs; Vertical AI --- start-ups taking advantage of India’s large AI talent pool to integrate AI in vertical-specific use cases.

In the consumer segment, Accel will target Bharat (start-ups catering to the top 30 per cent of households in India’s tier 2+ cities), India Native (ventures addressing the increasing demand by Indian consumers for higher service levels), and Aspiration Brands (new-age businesses aiming to capitalise on the rising discretionary spending of India’s consumption-first Gen Z demographic).

Also Read | AI Start-up Haber Raises $44 Million in Series C Round Led by Accel, Others

In the fintech space, the venture capitalist will invest in wealth management start-ups, ventures involved in fintech infrastructure (bringing banks and fintechs together to enable digital experiences for consumers and businesses), and digital distribution start-ups that accelerate the distribution of financial products by leveraging India's digital public infrastructure.

The manufacturing category includes “India to Global” start-ups which cater to global demand for diversified supply chains, India Native ventures which focus on high-quality production, and Industry 5.0 (next-gen digital technologies transforming every factory floor leading to more efficient operations, higher-quality output, and sustainability).