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Global discourse on AI has evolved from prospective to tangible influence — and nowhere is this change more pronounced than in India. India is now the globe's second-largest generative AI startup ecosystem, registering a 3.7X increase in action. This expansion isn't merely numerical; it's empowering lean AI startups to post robust revenues and pushing established startups into new states of exponential expansion.

Consider Entri, a learning platform and Google accelerator graduate. By adding Gemini, Entri increased user retention by 20%—a telltale indicator of the pace at which AI adoption is transforming results.

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Today, this energy is being directed toward addressing systemic and complex problems in society and industries. To help achieve that mission, Google has announced the 20 AI startups that have been accepted into the most recent cohort of the Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First, selected from among more than 1,600 applicants.

With this programme, Google will assist founders in overcoming initial challenges and scaling their solutions for wider reach. Startups will benefit from access to Google Cloud infrastructure, Gemini models, extensive technical guidance, and go-to-market planning. Notably, the priorities of the cohort match the IndiaAI Mission's startup pillar—with 45% of firms developing agentic AI, 30% developing multimodal AI, and the other 25% focused on foundational and responsible AI.

"Startups are our co-creators for the future of AI at Google. Together with their vision, we merge our Google Cloud infrastructure, our state-of-the-art Gemini models, and the insights of our experts and believe that we can enable them to develop scalable, impactful, and responsible AI solutions that define new standards for the industry."

— Darren Mowry, VP of Global Startups, Google Cloud

These founders are not interested in incremental adjustments but in addressing root-level challenges in healthcare, climate, finance, and beyond. Their solutions are meant to unlock economies of scale and solve age-old bottlenecks.

"The strategic direction of this group is remarkable, with startups developing agentic, multimodal products and core AI models directly mapping to the three pillars of the IndiaAI Mission. Your creativity is at the heart of what makes India a global leader in AI. Your programme is an excellent case in point as to how large tech firms can help foster the country's AI startup ecosystem."

— Mr Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary of MeitY and CEO of India AI Mission, Govt. of India

The 20 Startups in the AI First Cohort

1. Adya AI (Enterprise Tech): A complete-stack agentic AI platform where AI develops AI, enabling enterprises to create, orchestrate, and scale secure, domain-agnostic solutions instantly.

2. Aignosis (Healthcare): Webcam-based autism screening tool for early, low-cost, and scalable detection of neurodevelopmental disorders.

3. AiSteth (Healthcare): An artificial intelligence-based stethoscope to identify cardio-respiratory diseases, with a 30% reduction in NCD-related premature deaths as the target. Building a biotech foundational model in parallel.

4. Apptile (DevTool): An agentic solution to create quick design, development, and deployment of native mobile applications.

5. Dview (FinTech): AI-built-in data platform for bringing together various data, creating insights, and powering pre-emptive business decisions.

6. Knit (DevTool): An integration layer that bridges AI agents with MCPs, APIs, and enterprise data to drive RAG pipelines and workflow automation.

7. Mili AI (FinTech): Offers intelligent support to eradicate back-office work for wealth management companies.

8. Mysa (FinTech): Constructs AI-driven operating systems for payments, consolidating bills, reimbursements, approvals, and accounting.

9. MyWonder (Education): A conversational, physical play friend that awakens curiosity and provides safe, age-based learning.

10. ORBO AI (Fashion): Vertical AI OS for beauty, providing digital solutions such as virtual try-ons, skin analysis, and personalised recommendations.

11. Phot.AI (Marketing Tech): Automates and personalises creative assets for cataloguing and marketing workflows in e-commerce and D2C.

12. Protecto (Cybersecurity): Protects enterprise data in GenAI by securing AI context and replacing patchwork DLPs, filters, and compliance tools.

13. Pulse (Enterprise Tech): AI-powered feedback intelligence platform that converts broken feedback into insights for product, customer experience, and growth.

14. Resilience AI (ClimateTech): Offers AI-based risk intelligence to businesses and governments for enhancing disaster readiness.

15. Segmind (DevTool): Automates media creation for developers working in creative agencies and studios.

16. Sortment (Marketing Tech): Constructs AI agents to provide automated, personalised, and scalable marketing campaigns.

17. Sparky AI (Education): A voice-first AI companion that enables users to develop spoken English fluency through chat practice.

18. Superjoin (Productivity): Spreadsheet AI assistant that makes one billion spreadsheet users 10 times more productive.

19. Vaani AI (Research): Develops voice AI infrastructure with its own base model, allowing natural human-like voice interactions.

20. VideoSDK (Communication Tech): Develops real-time AI agents that can listen, speak, see, and act.

The programme kicked off this week with a bootcamp at Google's Bengaluru office. Over the next three months, startups that are participating will collaborate closely with Google teams to overcome scaling issues and speed up their journey to market.

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Google is pleased to welcome this new cohort not only as programme participants but also as collaborators in building the future of AI.