Venture capital firm Accel has raised a $650 million early-stage fund to support founders in India and Southeast Asia. 

Accel’s latest fund, its eighth in India and SEA, will bet on AI, consumer brands, fintech, and manufacturing areas. 

In fintech, the fund aims to back startups in wealth management, fintech infrastructure, and digital distribution; whereas in AI, the focus will be enterprise AI, services as software, vertical AI. 

With over 16 years of operating in India and Southeast Asia,  Accel has invested in companies such as Amagi, Acko, BlackBuck, BlueStone, BrowserStack, Cult.fit, Flipkart, Freshworks, Swiggy, Urban Company, and Zetwerk, among others. Accel is the first institutional investor in 80% of its portfolio companies. 

“With this latest fund, we are focused on AI, consumer, fintech, and manufacturing —areas that are reshaping industries and addressing the needs of a rapidly 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. 

According to Shekhar Kirani, Partner at Accel, “India’s startup ecosystem is increasingly becoming the driving force behind the nation’s economic progress, with VC-backed companies surpassing $50 billion in public market capitalization. Indian founders have built resilient and enduring businesses which have been embraced by the public markets. As India’s GDP and public market cap grow, we expect large outcomes from disruptive businesses led by bold and visionary founders."

Accel’s early stage scaling program, Accel Atoms, now in its fourth iteration, has supported 36 startups to date that have collectively raised over $200 million. In the past two years alone, Accel invested in over 27 AI startups in India or by Indian-origin founders.