Google has announced the 20 startups selected for the 2026 cohort of its "Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First" programme in India, reinforcing its focus on supporting the country's growing artificial intelligence ecosystem. The selected companies will receive technical mentorship, access to Google's AI models and cloud infrastructure, and business support to help scale their products globally.
The three-month accelerator is designed for AI-first startups from the Seed to Series A stages that are building core AI products, applications or foundational models. Google said the programme received more than 1,600 applications from startups across sectors including healthcare, financial services, climate, education, enterprise software and marketing technology. Following a multi-stage evaluation process, 20 companies were shortlisted for the latest cohort.
Among the selected startups are companies working on agentic AI, multimodal AI, enterprise automation, voice technologies, creative AI, health technology and developer tools. The cohort includes Adya AI, Aignosis, AiSteth, Apptile, Dview, Knit, Mili AI, Mysa, MyWonder, ORBO AI, Phot.AI, Resilience AI, Segmind, Sortment, Sparky AI, Superjoin, Vaani AI and VideoSDK, among others. Several of these startups are building products aimed at improving business productivity, customer engagement, healthcare diagnostics, marketing automation and conversational AI.
As part of the programme, founders will receive access to Google Cloud infrastructure, Gemini AI models, one-on-one technical mentorship from Google engineers and product experts, and guidance on product development, responsible AI practices and go-to-market strategies. Google said the initiative is intended to help startups move from early-stage innovation to enterprise-scale deployment.
According to Google, the strategic focus of this year's cohort aligns closely with the objectives of the IndiaAI Mission. Around 45 per cent of the programme will focus on agentic AI applications, while 30 per cent will be dedicated to multimodal AI. The remaining curriculum will cover foundational AI models and responsible AI development, reflecting the increasing emphasis on building scalable and trustworthy AI systems.
Darren Mowry, Vice President, Global Startups at Google Cloud, said startups play a central role in shaping the future of AI. He noted that by combining entrepreneurial innovation with Google's cloud infrastructure, Gemini models and engineering expertise, the company aims to help founders build scalable and responsible AI products capable of serving global markets.
The programme also received support from the IndiaAI Mission. Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and CEO of the IndiaAI Mission, said initiatives such as the accelerator complement the government's efforts to strengthen India's AI startup ecosystem and encourage innovation in emerging technologies.
The announcement comes as India's generative AI ecosystem continues to expand rapidly. Google said the country has emerged as the world's second largest hub for generative AI startups, reflecting increasing founder activity, enterprise adoption and investor interest. AI applications across sectors including healthcare, finance, education, retail and marketing have continued to attract significant investment as businesses look to integrate generative AI into core operations.
Google's latest accelerator cohort highlights the company's continued investment in India's AI startup landscape. As competition in artificial intelligence intensifies globally, programmes that combine infrastructure, mentorship and technical expertise are expected to play a growing role in helping early-stage startups commercialise AI technologies and expand into international markets.