Accel India selects 10 startups for second cohort of Atoms programme

Accel India has selected 10 startups as part of its second cohort of Atoms programme that was launched last year for pre-seed investments.

“We have an understanding of what founders need from the very beginning of their journey. Atoms (programme) was created to assist these founders in their journey to build successful companies.

We have received applications from a varied set of founders, and the sheer diversity of these companies is a testament to their imagination, creativity and acumen,” said Prayank Swaroop, partner, Accel India.

The Atoms programme offers $250,000 as base capital in pre-seed rounds to each startup as an ‘uncapped convertible note’, which will convert to equity only in the next round.

So far, Accel Atoms has invested $6 million in 23 startups through its two cohorts. These companies have raked in close to $100 million in follow-on and additional funding through the programmes, the VC firm said in a statement.

In February, Accel had announced 14 startups selected as part of its first cohort of Atoms programme.

The 10 startups selected by Accel in second cohort mainly come from the SaaS, D2C and B2B sectors.

The startups include Brik, a B2B construction material-focused startup; Databrain, a data platform enabling non-technical strategic teams to extract and analyze data effectively; Dhiwise, a devtool that enables developers to deliver production-ready source code 10x faster for all kinds of apps.

The other companies include Dpanda, which helps convert platforms into micro-e-commerce sites and monetize the platforms’ traffic; Fishlog, a B2B marketplace streamlining the seafood supply chain across Indonesia and Mello, a discovery platform that allows people to find the best experiences around them, among others.

Accel is not the only VC offering early-stage mentorship programmes. In 2019, Sequoia Capital had launched Surge, under which it invests $1-3 million in exchange for equity, while providing mentorship and connections at an early stage.

Since 2008, Accel has been operating in India and its investment portfolio companies include the likes BookMyShow, Browserstack, Flipkart, Freshworks, FalconX, Myntra, Urban Company, Zetwerk, and Zenoti, among others.