AI automation research · Who is doing it

Funding for AI Automation Startups: Investors and Programmes by Region

Updated About 33 min read 411 source links

All research documents

Start here

AI models

Who is doing it

What you need

Countries

Reference

On this page
  1. Key takeaways
  2. Scope and how to read this document
  3. Capital is flowing to AI, but seed rounds are being concentrated
  4. Investors take pitches through forms, and many only through introductions
  5. Three screens decide most applications: team, traction and company age
  6. Agent memory and context layers are already a funded category
  7. India: AI-thesis pre-seed funds, rolling programmes and angel networks
  8. United States: a Delaware company is the default ask
  9. UK and Ireland: SEIS and EIS reward an independent UK company
  10. Continental Europe: public money needs an EU entity
  11. UAE: corridor funds now, government pilots after a Dubai licence
  12. Japan: funds with India offices, and corporate matching through JETRO
  13. Singapore: state money requires real Singapore operations
  14. Corporate venture arms and AI-platform programmes: credits now, cheques after a lead
  15. Company structure decides which doors open
  16. Deadlines from 13 October 2026
  17. What this means for your business
  18. Open questions and unverified items
  19. Sources

Key takeaways

All facts in this document are as of 13 October 2026. Unless marked otherwise, each was read on the investor's or programme's own page on 12 or 13 October 2026. Secondary marks a news report or tracker, own count marks a count from this review of 789 investor and programme entries, and inference marks a conclusion drawn here rather than stated by a source. The open-questions section near the end lists what could not be confirmed.

  • India and the India–US corridor are the most open door for India-based AI automation companies. A layer of AI-thesis pre-seed funds takes pitches through open forms (Neon Fund, Arka Venture Labs, Arali Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Emergent Ventures, Dallas Venture Capital), and four programmes reach the large firms without an introduction: Accel Atoms (up to $1M–$2M), Peak XV's Surge ($500K–$5M), Antler India (about INR 4 Cr for 11%) and South Park Commons' fellowship ($400K for 7%, workable from Bangalore).
  • Money is flowing to Indian AI. Indian AI startups raised $676M across 57 deals in H1 2026, against $162M across 30 deals a year earlier (secondary). Europe's AI startups raised about $23B in H1 2026, but 73% of it went to 38 companies raising rounds of $100M or more (secondary).
  • Outside India, the company you own decides who will read your deck. Character VC invests only in Delaware companies, YC asks companies from most countries to create a US, Canadian, Singapore or Cayman parent, the UK's SEIS and EIS exclude companies controlled by another company, the EIC Accelerator needs an EU or associated-country establishment, Singapore's SEEDS needs core activities in Singapore, Dubai's AI Seal needs a Dubai business, and Hub71 expects a founder to relocate.
  • Forms, not inboxes, are the main way in. In this review, 47% of investors publish a pitch or application form and only 12% an email address labelled for pitches; 23% publish no written channel, so an introduction is the only route (own count).
  • Three screens remove most applicants before the deck is read: team, traction and company age. Only 23 of 789 entries say solo founders are welcome (own count). Some funds set revenue gates, such as Pentathlon's "minimum of $200k ARR". India's startup recognition stops at 10 years from incorporation (20 for deep-tech startups), and several cloud and AI credit programmes cap company age at 7 or 10 years or exclude consultancies and agencies.
  • Selection rates at the best-known programmes are around 1% or lower. a16z's speedrun accepts "lower than 0.4%" of applicants, Conviction Embed under 1%, and Google for Startups Accelerator India picked 20 of about 2,500 applicants in 2026.
  • Agent memory and context layers are already funded. Mem0 raised $24M, Letta a $10M seed and Supermemory a seed round (secondary), and investors such as Peak XV, Basis Set, Felicis and Susa sit on those cap tables. Founders in the category should check each fund's portfolio for conflicts before pitching.
  • The next deadlines favour programmes over funds: speedrun on 1 November, YC on 2 November, Techstars London and Techstars NYC/Anywhere on 18 November, Innovate UK's BridgeAI call on 8 December (UK SMEs only), SusHi Tech Tokyo on 18 December, Hub71 in February 2027 and JETRO's J-Bridge India listings until 31 March 2027.

Scope and how to read this document

This document covers pre-seed and seed investors, accelerators, angel networks, corporate venture arms, AI-platform credit programmes and public schemes that a company building an AI automation or agent-infrastructure product from India could approach. It covers India, the United States, the UK and Ireland, continental Europe, the UAE, Japan and Singapore, plus global programmes. Large rounds and acquisitions are in Companies, and India's compute subsidy and data rules are in India.

The counts marked "own count" come from a review of 789 investor and programme entries, built from their own websites, SEC Form ADV filings and, where a site blocked automated readers, an archived copy of that site. A "usable written channel" means a published pitch email, a general email or a form. Entity and age rules were taken only from wording on each site; where a site says nothing, its rule is unknown, not absent.

This is research, not investment, legal or tax advice. Cheque sizes, deadlines and eligibility rules change often, so confirm each one on the investor's own page before applying.

Capital is flowing to AI, but seed rounds are being concentrated

India. Indian AI startups raised $676M across 57 deals in H1 2026, against $162M across 30 deals a year earlier (secondary; Inc42). Z47 counts $1.25B into Indian AI companies last year, "most of it in early stage" (Z47). Peak XV's Surge 12, announced in September 2026, raised its per-company cap to $5M (secondary; Dealroom).

Europe. European AI startups raised about $23B in H1 2026, but 73% went to 38 companies raising $100M or more (secondary; Intelligent CIO). A Crunchbase-based report puts the year-on-year fall in deal count at about 40%, concentrated at seed (secondary; Crunchbase News).

Corporate investors. Corporate-backed rounds raised $146bn in Q2 2026, driven by AI mega-rounds, and 2026 is already the best year on record at the half-year mark (secondary; Global Venturing). Most corporate funds still co-invest behind an institutional lead, so for an early company their credit programmes matter more than their cheques.

Investors take pitches through forms, and many only through introductions

Channel Share of the 789 investors (own count)
At least one email address 56%
An email address labelled for pitches 12%
A pitch or application form 47%
A phone number 32%
No usable written channel 23%

The no-channel group includes several of the US funds with theses closest to AI context and agent infrastructure, among them Foundation Capital, Basis Set, Felicis, Flybridge and Amplify Partners (own count). Partner emails on team pages are common but are not invitations to pitch; the stated form or pitch inbox is the investor's own intake route (inference).

Two practical details recur. Japanese firms often take a first 30-minute video call and welcome pitch videos (Coral Capital). Some warn that emails impersonating their staff are circulating (Global Brain), so investors may check that an approach comes from a real company domain.

Three screens decide most applications: team, traction and company age

Solo founders

Only 23 of the 789 entries say solo founders are welcome, 3 say they are not, and 763 say nothing (own count). The explicit acceptances cluster in programmes:

  • YC: "We regularly accept solo founders" (YC FAQ).
  • a16z speedrun: solo founders "absolutely" can apply, though teams are preferred (speedrun FAQ).
  • Accel Atoms: "Yes, you can apply if you are a solo founder" (Atoms FAQs).
  • South Park Commons: solo founders are welcome, with a "strong bias for applicants who can build and prototype" (SPC F26 Founder Fellowship).
  • Forum Ventures: 25.6% of its latest cohort was solo-founder-led (Forum Ventures accelerator). Conviction Embed accepts founders without a co-founder (Conviction Embed).
  • Character VC writes that "solo founders can leverage AI to build with the speed of larger teams" (Character VC).

The explicit exclusions are as clear. Startup Wise Guys' equity programme requires "at least 2 co-founders" (Startup Wise Guys Flagship Accelerator), Unusual Academy wants teams of two to four with a technical co-founder (Unusual Academy), and Antler's Dubai programme "typically do[es] not invest in solo founders after the program" (Antler MENAP).

Traction

Some funds publish revenue gates that a pre-revenue company cannot meet yet.

Investor Traction gate stated
Pentathlon "minimum of $200k ARR"
Mela Ventures Invests after "early revenues and a clear product-market fit"
LAUNCH $2K MRR at 20% monthly growth for enterprise companies
Bonfire Ventures Companies typically at about $30–40K MRR
Upekkha Early revenue of about $100K
Dubai Angel Investors "Some revenue"

Pre-product companies are not shut out. Arali is "comfortable backing companies before revenue, and even before product" (Arali Ventures). Passion Capital, which invests in UK or European companies, says there is "no need for product or customers" (Passion Capital), and Nauta backs B2B software "with an operating product, even if pre-revenue" (Nauta). About 40% of the companies YC funds are "just an idea" (YC FAQ).

Company age and a services history

Public and platform schemes often screen out established companies and service businesses.

Scheme Age or business-type rule
India's DPIIT startup recognition Up to 10 years from incorporation (20 years for deep-tech startups); "an entity formed by splitting up or reconstruction of an existing business shall not be considered a 'Startup'" (Startup India)
Startup India Seed Fund Scheme Companies up to two years old; the 2026 call closed on 31 May (SISFS)
NVIDIA Inception Under 10 years old; excludes "consulting and outsourced development" firms (NVIDIA Inception)
AWS Activate "Founded in the last 10 years" (AWS Activate)
MongoDB for Startups Under 7 years old; excludes development shops (MongoDB for Startups)
Cloudflare for Startups Excludes "consultancies, service-based agencies, MSPs, or resellers" (Cloudflare for Startups)

An established services company that builds a product therefore often needs a separate product company to use these schemes. Whether a new company counts as a "reconstruction" of the old one under DPIIT's wording is a question for a chartered accountant or lawyer (inference).

Selection rates

speedrun accepts "lower than 0.4%" of applicants (speedrun FAQ) and Conviction Embed under 1% (Conviction Embed). Google for Startups Accelerator India picked 20 of about 2,500 applicants in 2026 (Google: 2026 Accelerator India cohort). An application to a top cash programme is best treated as roughly a 1-in-100 chance or lower (inference from these published rates).

Agent memory and context layers are already a funded category

Investors have backed several companies building memory or shared context for AI agents.

Company What it builds Funding and investors
Mem0 Memory layer for AI apps $24M in total ($3.9M seed and $20M Series A, October 2025), Series A led by Basis Set with Peak XV, GitHub Fund and YC (secondary; TechCrunch on Mem0; Entrackr)
Letta Stateful agents (UC Berkeley spin-out) $10M seed led by Felicis, with Sunflower and Essence VC (secondary; Pulse 2.0)
Supermemory Memory API Seed round of $2.6M led by Susa Ventures, Browder Capital and SF1.vc (secondary; TechCrunch on Supermemory)
Zep Agent memory Names Engineering Capital among its backers (Zep)
Engram Memory Announced by Amplify Partners as "the memory dream team" (Amplify Partners)
Manufact MCP infrastructure $6.3M seed led by Peak XV (secondary; Let's Data Science)
Atolio "Enterprise search and AI context layer" IBM Ventures portfolio (IBM Ventures)
NudgeBee "Single enterprise context layer" $3M seed led by Kalaari Capital (Kalaari Capital)
PotpieAI Knowledge graph so agents can reason over system context Picked for Google for Startups Accelerator India 2026 (Google: 2026 Accelerator India cohort)
Composio Tool-integration layer for agents Seeded by Together Fund (Together Fund)

Investor theses point the same way. Wing partner Zach DeWitt backs "agentic applications and infrastructure, digital workers" (Wing team), Foundation Capital calls "context graphs" for agents a trillion-dollar opportunity (Foundation Capital), and Adara invests behind a "Trusted AI Infrastructure" thesis (Adara pitch form). In Europe, Volta led the pre-seed of HostYourAI, a sovereign AI hosting platform, and lists Kyvvu, which makes "AI agents safe for regulated industries" (Volta Ventures).

Two conclusions follow (inference). A fund that already holds a direct competitor may decline or may be conflicted, so ask early. And "memory for agents" on its own no longer stands out; a pitch needs a specific difference, such as governance, audit or cross-vendor use.

India: AI-thesis pre-seed funds, rolling programmes and angel networks

India is where pre-seed AI capital, open intake channels and no need to re-domicile overlap most. SEBI-registered Indian funds generally invest in Indian companies, which would make a Delaware parent unnecessary for them (inference; no fund confirmed it in writing, so ask each).

Pre-seed and seed funds with open routes

Investor Stage and cheque Why it is relevant Route Watch-outs
Neon Fund Pre-seed/seed; $500K first cheque, $100–500K if the round is smaller "We only invest in Enterprise AI startups"; acts as a US go-to-market partner; Delaware LP (Neon Fund) Application form Whether it can invest in an Indian private limited company is not stated
Arka Venture Labs Pre-seed; up to $500K (SAFE, note or preferred equity) "Pre-seed investors for B2B Tech start-ups building for Global Enterprise Markets"; Mumbai and Menlo Park (Arka) Pitch email on its contact page Recent activity not confirmed (its news page loads by script)
Arali Ventures Pre-seed/seed; $250K–1.5M, usually leads Thesis lists "Agents, but enterprise grade", "orchestration layers" and "AI Governance" (Arali Ventures) Email on its site The site's pitch link points to a template page
Kalaari Capital Pre-seed to Series A; first cheque INR 4–40 Cr Led NudgeBee's seed; process about 4–6 weeks (Kalaari: seek funding) Seek-funding form A context-layer company in the portfolio
Emergent Ventures Inception to pre-Series A Backs US-market companies "building from anywhere" (Emergent Ventures) "Pitch Us" form Strongest for companies selling into the US
Dallas Venture Capital Early-stage B2B SaaS and enterprise AI Hyderabad entity; portfolio includes CrewAI and Simplismart (Dallas VC) India pitch form Its contact page lists only a general inbox
Together Fund Seed/Series A; $1–10M "US-India corridor", AI-native only; seeded Composio (Together Fund) Deals email on its contact page Cheques start at $1M
Leo Capital Pre-seed/seed Infrastructure SaaS and GenAI; helps Indian companies go global (Leo Capital) Pitch form No email published
Eximius Ventures Pre-seed "Cheque Zero" Published "A Thesis on AI Agents" (Eximius) Form or pitch email Cheque size not stated
AJVC Pre-seed; about INR 1.5 Cr for about 9% Replies within 2 days and closes in under 3 weeks Application Generalist
DeVC $50–500K first cheque "AI" and "DevTools & Infra" buckets (DeVC) General email on its site —
Endiya Partners Seed/pre-Series A A "co-founder VC for early-stage AI, Deep Tech" (Endiya) Email on its site —
Shastra VC Pre-seed/seed Backs AI "at a stage where belief comes before proof" (Shastra VC) Email or form on its site —
Merak, Ideaspring, Upsparks Pre-seed/seed; Merak $0.5–1.5M first cheque Ideaspring: "global enterprise products from India"; Upsparks: a micro-VC run by former founders (Merak; Ideaspring; Upsparks) Merak email; Ideaspring and Upsparks forms —
WEH Ventures, All In Capital, PedalStart Small lead cheques: WEH $150–500K, All In $250–600K, PedalStart $150K Open forms; PedalStart is an accelerator that leads rounds (WEH; All In Capital; PedalStart) Forms; PedalStart by email —
Storm Ventures (US) Early-stage B2B AI India portfolio includes an "Agentic AI solution for enterprise management" (Storm Ventures) "Let's Talk" form —
Mozilla Ventures (US) Pre-seed/seed "able to invest globally" (Mozilla Ventures about), with a focus on trustworthy AI, security and privacy; "you don't need to have a warm introduction" (Mozilla Ventures contacts) Deck form Best for a privacy or governance angle
Activate Inception to growth; leads the first institutional round with $500K–3M plus up to $1M in AI-lab credits "India's Native-AI Venture Firm" (Activate) No public channel Introduction only

Programmes that open the large firms without an introduction

Programme Offer Conditions and timing Route
Accel Atoms "Up to $1M–$2M" for India-based and Indian-origin founders; the 2026 AI cohort was co-funded by Google's AI Futures Fund (Atoms and Google) Rolling; solo founders may apply; the company must be incorporated by the time it is selected and have raised under $2M (Atoms FAQs) apply.accel-atoms.com
Peak XV's Surge $500K–$5M seed Surge 12 announced in September 2026 with the cap raised to $5M (secondary; Dealroom) surge.peakxv.com/apply
Antler India About INR 4 Cr for 11% About half its India investments are made outside the residency; decides in about three weeks (Antler India) Pitch form
South Park Commons Founder Fellowship $400K for 7% plus a guaranteed $600K in the next round Fellows can work from Bangalore; the Spring 2027 date is not yet published (SPC F26 Founder Fellowship) southparkcommons.com/apply

Upekkha targets founders moving to an AI-first B2B business "from scratch, from services, or from an existing product", but its last intake closed on 6 September 2026 (Upekkha). Chiratae Sonic promises a 48-hour turnaround on seed cheques of up to $2M (Chiratae Ventures).

Angel networks

Angel networks state no company-age rule.

Network What it offers Route
Inflection Point Ventures An eight-step process Pitch form or email on its contact page
Venture Catalysts Its form asks about full-time founders and monthly recurring revenue Online form
Keiretsu Forum India Members invest INR 10 lakh or more per deal Apply to pitch
IAN Group Rolling intake "Submit Plan"
Waveform Ventures Co-leads $100–400K seed rounds; decides within two weeks; pre-launch is fine if the founders are full-time Waveform FAQ

Keiretsu's cross-chapter rule lets a company that has presented to its nearest chapter and drawn member interest present to other chapters in its global network (Keiretsu Forum).

Government money splits by entity

  • The ANRF RDI Fund states no company-age limit in its eligibility definition and names AI as a sector. Its first 19 second-level fund managers were approved on 8 October 2026, and it offers loans or equity, not grants, for up to 50% of project cost (RDI Fund press release; RDI Fund guidelines).
  • TDB core funding lends up to 50% of a project at 5% simple interest plus royalty, against collateral, and excludes proprietorships and partnerships (TDB funding guidelines).
  • The IndiaAI compute portal takes requests from the 1st to the 25th of each month (IndiaAI compute portal). Its rates, the subsidy of up to 40% and its eligibility categories are in India.
  • Some state and national programmes tie eligibility to company age or DPIIT recognition. nasscom's DeepTech Club Launchpad asks for a company under 10 years old since incorporation and registered in India (nasscom DeepTech Club Launchpad). Tamil Nadu's TANSEED requires DPIIT recognition, so the age and "reconstruction" rules above apply, and it also excludes subsidiaries and Indian arms of foreign firms (secondary; Entrepreneur India).

United States: a Delaware company is the default ask

Several US investors state the entity rule outright:

  • Character VC: "We only invest in United States (Delaware) incorporated companies, but it's okay if your team is located outside the USA" (Character VC). Its Labs track offers $200K for 5% and its Core fund up to $2M, with no warm introduction needed (Character VC; Character VC contact form).
  • Inventus reserves its seed route for "a US-incorporated early-stage technology business" (Inventus Capital), and Precursor invests in companies headquartered in North America (Precursor Ventures).
  • YC requires a company incorporated outside the US, Canada, Singapore or the Cayman Islands to create a parent in one of them, noting that many companies in each batch do this (YC FAQ).
  • TinySeed wants a Delaware C-corp or willingness to reincorporate as one (TinySeed FAQ).
  • TiE Boston's India–US corridor track funds Indian seed and Series A companies "registered in the US" (TiE Boston Angels).

Most other US seed funds say nothing. Leads usually ask for a Delaware parent at closing; that is market practice, not something each fund states (inference). Funds that say they invest regardless of geography include Mozilla Ventures (Mozilla Ventures about), Underscore VC, which calls itself "geography-agnostic" (Underscore FAQs), Work-Bench, which backs "founders anywhere who want to win customers here" (Work-Bench), and Weekend Fund, which invests "around the world" (Weekend Fund), though its latest SEC adviser filing found dates from February 2025.

Investor or programme What it offers Route Condition
Conviction Embed $250K uncapped SAFE; 7th cohort open embed.conviction.com Mandatory San Francisco retreat; under 1% selected
a16z speedrun Accelerator with a 1 November 2026 deadline speedrun application In San Francisco from 1 February to 16 April 2027
Work-Bench, Decibel, Uncork, Khosla Ventures Seed funds for enterprise AI, devtools and infrastructure Pitch emails on Work-Bench, Decibel, Uncork and Khosla Ventures Apart from Work-Bench, expect to need a US entity
Everywhere Ventures $250K into pre-seed rounds Join our portfolio form AI is not its core thesis
Forum Ventures "$100k USD for 7.5% equity" for B2B software with less than $500K raised (Forum Ventures accelerator) Online application An MVP in market or close to it
Z Fellows An optional $10,000; mostly virtual cohorts; rolling (Z Fellows) Online application Solo founders accepted
Betaworks Camp 12 weeks in New York, hybrid possible, no fees; current camp "The New Agent Economy" (Betaworks Camp) Online application Deadline extended, no date published

Foundation Capital and Wing hold theses close to agent context and digital workers but publish no pitch form; Wing lists only a general inbox. Both need introductions, for which diaspora networks such as the TiE chapters and existing US customers are the usual sources (inference).

UK and Ireland: SEIS and EIS reward an independent UK company

UK pre-seed money leans on the SEIS and EIS tax reliefs, and both rule out a company controlled by another company. EIS requires "a permanent establishment in the UK" and a company that is not "controlled by another company, or... [with] more than 50% of its shares owned by another company" (HMRC EIS). SEIS caps a company's raise at £250,000 and requires that it has never been controlled by another company (HMRC SEIS). A UK subsidiary of an Indian parent therefore cannot use them; a UK company owned by its founders can.

Investor or programme What it offers Route Condition
Techstars London Accelerator open to founders worldwide; in London 8 March to 3 June 2027 (Techstars London) apply.techstars.com by 18 November 2026 Three months in London
Crane Venture Partners Inception to seed; "We back outlier founders everywhere" (Crane); lists Bangalore among its cities Crane contact —
Moonfire Pre-seed/seed; "Work & Knowledge" thesis Pitch email on its site Geography not stated
Sure Valley Ventures AI software only; up to £1.5m first cheque SVV pitch Invests across the UK and Ireland; entity rule not stated
Air Street Capital AI-only; $500K–$15M cheques in North America and Europe (Air Street Fund III) Its FAQ asks founders to email its founder directly (Air Street) —

The programme that fits AI governance work most closely is Innovate UK's BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst: AI for Assurance and Compliance. It opens on 21 October and closes on 8 December 2026, but only "UK registered SMEs" can apply for a share of up to £5m (Innovate UK Business Connect). The Global Entrepreneur Programme expects revenue from £250,000 (sector dependent), registered IP and a founder who relocates or a senior UK role (Global Entrepreneur Programme). Ireland's NDRC €100k SAFE showed rolling applications as "now closed" (NDRC).

Continental Europe: public money needs an EU entity

The EIC Accelerator requires proof of "effective establishment in a Member State or an Associated Country" by the full-proposal stage, and its next cut-off is 4 November 2026 (EIC Accelerator 2026 summary). Most national programmes have similar rules. Without an EU company, two routes remain:

  1. Global networks and funds with global mandates. Antler runs India and continental-Europe programmes in one network with one pitch form (Antler pitch). Point Nine writes $1–10M per company with a global mandate (Point Nine), and Hummingbird says "the distance that may separate us is not relevant" (Hummingbird); both take pitches only through general inboxes. XAnge's pitch form accepts India (XAnge), and Nauta takes pre-revenue companies with an operating product (Nauta).
  2. Startup-visa or landing schemes that create the EU company. Estonia's requires an MVP and first traction, approved by its Startup Committee (Startup Estonia); Portugal's runs through a certified incubator (Startup Portugal); the Netherlands' runs through a facilitator (business.gov.nl).

STATION F has run a programme for Indian AI startups entering Europe, but the next India AI call is not announced and its Founders Program is "on pause" (STATION F programs; STATION F FAQ). Startup Wise Guys' Founders Club, an online B2B programme, closes on 2 November 2026, though its equity programme needs two or more co-founders (Startup Wise Guys programmes). Luxembourg's Fit 4 Start #18 has opened pre-registration (Luxinnovation Fit 4 Start), and MassChallenge Switzerland's 2027 dates are not yet published (MassChallenge Switzerland).

UAE: corridor funds now, government pilots after a Dubai licence

Three UAE doors are open to an Indian company without a UAE entity:

  • 100Unicorns (formerly 9Unicorns) has opened an office in Abu Dhabi's ADGM for the India–MENA corridor; under its earlier name it announced first-round cheques of $300K–1M per startup (secondary for the office; ADGM announcement; 100Unicorns).
  • Peak XV's Surge, which lists offices in the US, India, Singapore and the UAE (Surge).
  • Expand North Star, a Dubai investor-matching event whose 2025 edition lists 2,050 global startups and 1,300 investors (Expand North Star).

The UAE–India Start-Up Series is the most concrete corridor mechanism. It requires "Indian-registered entities" with market traction and a UAE roadmap; edition 2.0 closed on 30 August 2026 (UAE–India Start-Up Series), and the first edition drew more than 10,000 applications (secondary; Tribune India).

Dubai's Agentic AI for Government Services Accelerator launched on 5 October 2026 with 33 government entities and more than 300 use cases (Dubai Future Foundation). Participating entities will work with technology companies certified under the Dubai AI Seal, which is open to AI businesses that "operate legally in Dubai" (Dubai AI Seal). Hub71 offers AED 250,000 in cash through a SAFE plus AED 250,000 in kind, but "at least one founder is expected to commit to relocating long-term", and its Cohort 21 deadline is in February 2027 (Hub71 Access programme). Ras Al Khaimah's Innovation City sells the cheapest licence found, a seed package with one visa for AED 13,200 a year (Innovation City packages), but a licence there does not meet the Dubai AI Seal's rule (inference). Antler's Dubai programme is a poor fit for solo founders (see above).

Japan: funds with India offices, and corporate matching through JETRO

The Japanese early-stage funds that invest in India-registered companies have Indian offices and open forms. Global Brain's English form offers "India" as a company region and "Pre-seed" as a round, and it leads into the KDDI Open Innovation Fund V that Global Brain manages (Global Brain investment form; KDDI Open Innovation Fund). Incubate Fund India leads seed rounds (Incubate Fund India), and Beyond Next Ventures invests from seed to Series A in Japan and India with a deep-tech focus (Beyond Next Ventures). Rebright Partners backs Jiffy ("AI-powered Intelligent Automation solutions") and has a Bengaluru office (Rebright Partners portfolio). Genesia routes financing enquiries to a "designated capitalist" rather than its form, so it needs an introduction (Genesia Ventures).

Corporate and event routes open to India-based startups:

  • JETRO J-Bridge matches overseas startups with Japanese corporates; meetings are by invitation after a JETRO review, and India-tagged needs show an application deadline of 31 March 2027 (J-Bridge; J-Bridge member registration).
  • JETRO Bengaluru runs a Japan-India Startup Hub with T-Hub (secondary; Entrepreneur India).
  • Panasonic Ignition's CO.lab Studio incubates AI startups around Panasonic's MirAIe platform (Panasonic Ignition).
  • SusHi Tech Challenge 2027 runs in English, carries a JPY 10M grand prize and closes on 18 December 2026. Participants must be able to pitch on both event days and exhibit at a booth on all three days, in Tokyo, 20–22 May 2027 (SusHi Tech Challenge).

Singapore: state money requires real Singapore operations

SEEDS, part of SG Growth Capital, requires a "Singapore-based company with core activities carried out here", incorporated as a Pte Ltd less than 10 years ago with paid-up capital of at least S$50,000 (SEEDS Capital). The S$1B top-up to Startup SG Equity targets Singapore-based deep-tech companies (Enterprise Singapore factsheet). EntrePass, the founder's work pass, needs at least S$100,000 raised in one round from an eligible investor, among other routes (MOM EntrePass).

The Singapore-based investors that back India-based companies directly include Peak XV's Surge, Jungle Ventures (India and Southeast Asia, first cheque $500K–$20M; Jungle Ventures), Vertex Ventures SEA & India (Vertex Ventures), and TiE Singapore's angels, who meet four times a year (TiE Singapore). BEENEXT's site shows no dated activity, so its current investing is unconfirmed.

Corporate venture arms and AI-platform programmes: credits now, cheques after a lead

Programme Offer Route Condition
Atlassian Ventures Typically seed to Series B on a published convertible note; no board seat; Marketplace placement (Atlassian Ventures FAQ) Email on its FAQ Atlassian's own Rovo and Teamwork Graph cover context for agents, so position a product as complementary (inference)
Claude for Startups (Anthropic) Up to $45K in partner perks; up to $100K in API credits only through a partner VC; open to bootstrapped companies Application form —
Google AI Futures Fund and Google Cloud startup program Rolling form with optional equity; cloud credits of $2K before funding, $200–350K once funded (AI Futures Fund; Google Cloud for Startups) Online forms Co-invests with Accel in Indian startups through Accel Atoms (secondary; TechCrunch)
IBM Ventures Early-stage enterprise AI (IBM Ventures) Opportunity form Portfolio includes Atolio, an AI context layer
HubSpot Ventures $500K–5M initial; global; themes include "AI & Agent Development" (HubSpot Ventures) Email on its page Seed to Series B
JioGenNext No equity and no fees; pilots across Reliance businesses (JioGenNext) Application form A route to a large Indian reference customer
NVIDIA Inception, AWS Activate, Cloudflare, MongoDB Free membership and credits Online forms Age caps or services exclusions (see the screens above)
Databricks for Startups Up to $200K in credits, including Neon Postgres (Databricks startup program) Online form Databricks Ventures only co-invests with a lead (Databricks Ventures)

Three programmes that appear in older lists had no working official page on 12–13 October 2026: Cohere's startup programme URL redirects to its homepage (Cohere startup program), Oracle's global startup page redirects to its cloud page (Oracle for Startups), and the Intel Liftoff URL leads to a generic developer page (Intel Liftoff). Earnest Capital's latest SEC adviser filing found dates from March 2023, so its current activity is unconfirmed (SEC Form ADV 300048).

Company structure decides which doors open

The entity rules above combine into a small set of options. This is a summary of what the sources state, not advice; the choice needs a chartered accountant and a lawyer.

Option What it opens What it closes or risks
Raise through an existing Indian company Angels with no age rule, Indian VCs that state no entity rule, TDB, the RDI Fund, Global Brain DPIIT schemes and age-capped credit programmes if the company is over the age limits; services exclusions
A new Indian private limited company for the product DPIIT recognition if it is not a "splitting up or reconstruction" of an existing business; grant schemes; credit programmes; Accel Atoms; the UAE–India Start-Up Series Whether moving IP or business into it counts as "reconstruction"; TANSEED excludes subsidiaries
A Delaware C-corp parent over an Indian subsidiary (a "flip") YC (or a Singapore, Canadian or Cayman parent), Character VC, Inventus, TinySeed, US angel groups and most US leads at closing RBI/FEMA approvals, transfer pricing and valuation reports (Treelife on flips); reversing a flip later can be costly, as Groww's reported ~$159M US exit tax shows (secondary; Treelife on Groww)
A Singapore holding company YC's parent rule, Southeast Asia-only funds, EntrePass after a S$100K+ raise SEEDS and Startup SG Equity still need core activities in Singapore
A founder-owned UK company with a UK permanent establishment SEIS/EIS-backed angels and micro-VCs, Sure Valley Ventures, Innovate UK A UK subsidiary of a foreign parent fails SEIS/EIS
An EU company through a landing scheme, or a Dubai free-zone company The EIC and EU national funds; the Dubai AI Seal and Dubai government pilots Residency, incubator or licence costs; Hub71 also needs a founder to relocate

Applying does not always have to wait for the decision. YC lets accepted companies create the parent after acceptance (YC FAQ), and Accel Atoms needs incorporation only by the time a startup is selected (Atoms FAQs).

Deadlines from 13 October 2026

Date Programme What it offers or requires Source
16 Oct 2026 500 Global accelerator, Batch 37 Applicants must be in the US or plan to be within six months 500 Global
20 Oct 2026 Founder Institute (virtual cohort starting 27 Oct) $1,149 entrance fee Founder Institute
25th of each month IndiaAI compute portal request window Monthly; check eligibility first IndiaAI compute portal
29 Oct 2026 MeitY GENESIS Pilot 2.0 Needs DPIIT recognition; date seen only on an aggregator (secondary) StartupGrantsIndia
1 Nov 2026 a16z speedrun SR008 Founders in San Francisco from 1 February to 16 April 2027 speedrun application
2 Nov 2026 YC Winter 2027 Parent company in the US, Canada, Singapore or Cayman needed if accepted; decisions by 11 December YC apply
2 Nov 2026 Startup Wise Guys Founders Club Online B2B programme; the equity programme needs two or more co-founders Startup Wise Guys programmes
4 Nov 2026 EIC Accelerator cut-off EU or associated-country establishment by the full proposal EIC Accelerator 2026 summary
18 Nov 2026 Techstars London 2027 In London 8 March to 3 June 2027 Techstars London
18 Nov 2026 Techstars NYC and Anywhere 2027 Programme starts 8 March 2027; Demo Day 3 June 2027 Techstars Anywhere
8 Dec 2026 Innovate UK BridgeAI Deployment Catalyst (opens 21 Oct) UK-registered SMEs only Innovate UK Business Connect
18 Dec 2026 SusHi Tech Challenge 2027 JPY 10M grand prize; participants in Tokyo 20–22 May 2027 SusHi Tech Challenge
Feb 2027 Hub71 Cohort 21 A founder must commit to relocating to Abu Dhabi Hub71 Access programme
31 Mar 2027 JETRO J-Bridge India-tagged needs Corporate matching by invitation after JETRO review J-Bridge member registration

Several routes have no deadline: Accel Atoms, Surge, the Antler pitch form, Forum Ventures and Z Fellows are rolling, Conviction Embed's 7th cohort is open, and nasscom's DeepTech Club Launchpad onboards monthly. Dates are still to be announced for the South Park Commons Spring 2027 fellowship, Upekkha's next intake, Google for Startups Accelerator India 2027 (the 2026 call opened on 31 March), the next UAE–India Start-Up Series, Fit 4 Start #18, MassChallenge Switzerland 2027 and NDRC's reopening.

What this means for your business

These points are inferences from the evidence above, not investment, legal or tax advice.

Start here

  1. Settle the company question before you file anything. Decide which company will own the product and where it is incorporated, with a chartered accountant and a lawyer, because that one choice opens or closes DPIIT schemes, credit programmes, US leads, SEIS/EIS and EU public money (see "Company structure decides which doors open").
  2. Begin with the routes that need no introduction and no new entity. For an India-based company that means the Indian AI-thesis funds' forms, the rolling programmes (Accel Atoms, Surge, Antler India, South Park Commons), angel networks and corporate matching such as J-Bridge.
  3. Get evidence before you approach thesis-matched seed funds. Named design partners, letters of intent or paid pilots move a pitch from "idea" to "early traction", which is the screen many funds apply.

Decisions to make

  1. Which residencies you can accept. speedrun (San Francisco, February to April 2027), Techstars London (March to June 2027), SusHi Tech (Tokyo, May 2027) and Hub71 (relocation) each require time on site.
  2. Whether to flip to Delaware, and when. Weigh the flip's approvals and exit cost against the US investors it opens, and ask Indian funds whether they can invest into a foreign parent before you flip.
  3. How to describe your team and product status. Forms ask for incorporation year, full-time founders, ARR or MRR and amount raised (for example Venture Catalysts and Episode 1). Answer them exactly as things stand, including any use of AI agents in place of staff.

What to prepare

  1. One master deck with short regional appendices, a one-page summary, a two-to-three-minute demo video and standard answers to the common form fields. Some investors ask for a demo or Loom video in the application (Inventus Capital; Luminar Ventures).
  2. A competitor slide that names the funded companies in your category and states your difference; in agent memory that means Mem0, Letta, Zep, Supermemory and the context layers inside large platforms.
  3. An ask sized to the funds you target. The pre-seed funds above mostly write first cheques of $150K to $1.5M.

Deadlines

  1. Put the table above into your plan: speedrun on 1 November, YC on 2 November, Techstars on 18 November, BridgeAI on 8 December, SusHi Tech on 18 December, Hub71 in February 2027 and J-Bridge by 31 March 2027.

Risks to control

  1. Portfolio conflicts. Check each fund's portfolio for direct competitors before pitching, and ask about conflicts on the first call.
  2. Over-claiming. Investors check what they are told; keep pilot, customer and revenue claims exactly as they stand.
  3. Pitch etiquette. Use each firm's stated intake route; partner emails on team pages are not invitations to pitch, and some firms warn about impersonation, so write from your company domain.

Questions to ask any investor

  • Can you invest in our current entity, or do you need a Delaware, Singapore or UK parent, and at what stage?
  • Do you hold a company that competes with ours?
  • What evidence do you expect at this stage: design partners, pilots or revenue?
  • What is your first-cheque range, and do you lead or follow?
  • How long does your process take from first call to money in the bank?

Open questions and unverified items

Item What the sources show What would settle it
Whether India-focused funds such as Neon Fund and Together Fund invest in an Indian private limited company or need a foreign parent Neon Fund is a Delaware LP; neither states its rule Asking each fund
Whether a new product company spun out of an older one counts as a "reconstruction" under DPIIT rules The rule's wording only A professional opinion or a DPIIT clarification
Activity at Arka Venture Labs, Weekend Fund, BEENEXT and Earnest Capital Arka's news page loads by script; Weekend Fund's latest SEC filing found is from February 2025, Earnest Capital's from March 2023; BEENEXT's site shows no dated activity Recent deals or filings
The next UAE–India Start-Up Series, Spring 2027 SPC fellowship and Upekkha intake dates Not announced on 13 October 2026 The organisers' pages
MeitY GENESIS Pilot 2.0 deadline Seen only on an aggregator MeitY Startup Hub page
100Unicorns' ADGM office terms ADGM announcement only 100Unicorns' own terms
Whether investor pitch forms actually deliver No form was submitted in this review Submitting one

Sources

  1. Inc42
  2. Z47
  3. Dealroom
  4. Intelligent CIO
  5. Crunchbase News
  6. Global Venturing
  7. Coral Capital
  8. Global Brain (globalbrains.com)
  9. YC FAQ (ycombinator.com)
  10. speedrun FAQ
  11. Atoms FAQs
  12. SPC F26 Founder Fellowship (southparkcommons.com)
  13. Forum Ventures accelerator (forumvc.com)
  14. Conviction Embed
  15. Character VC
  16. Startup Wise Guys Flagship Accelerator
  17. Unusual Academy
  18. Antler MENAP
  19. Pentathlon
  20. Mela Ventures
  21. LAUNCH (launchaccelerator.co)
  22. Bonfire Ventures (bonfirevc.com)
  23. Upekkha
  24. Dubai Angel Investors
  25. Arali Ventures
  26. Passion Capital
  27. Nauta (nautacapital.com)
  28. Startup India
  29. SISFS (seedfund.startupindia.gov.in)
  30. NVIDIA Inception
  31. AWS Activate
  32. MongoDB for Startups
  33. Cloudflare for Startups
  34. Google: 2026 Accelerator India cohort (blog.google)
  35. TechCrunch on Mem0
  36. Entrackr
  37. Pulse 2.0
  38. TechCrunch on Supermemory
  39. Zep (getzep.com)
  40. Amplify Partners
  41. Let's Data Science (letsdatascience.com)
  42. IBM Ventures
  43. Kalaari Capital
  44. Together Fund
  45. Wing team
  46. Foundation Capital
  47. Adara pitch form (adaravc.typeform.com)
  48. Volta Ventures
  49. Neon Fund
  50. Application form (neon.fund)
  51. Arka
  52. contact page (arka.vc)
  53. Kalaari: seek funding
  54. Seek-funding form (kalaari.com)
  55. Emergent Ventures
  56. Pitch Us" form
  57. Dallas VC
  58. India pitch form (airtable.com)
  59. contact page (together.fund)
  60. Leo Capital
  61. Pitch form (leo.capital)
  62. Eximius (eximiusvc.com)
  63. Form (wkf.ms)
  64. Application (ajuniorvc.com)
  65. DeVC
  66. Endiya
  67. Shastra VC
  68. Merak (merakventures.com)
  69. Ideaspring (ideaspringcap.com)
  70. Upsparks
  71. WEH (wehventures.com)
  72. All In Capital
  73. PedalStart
  74. Storm Ventures
  75. Let's Talk" form (stormventures.typeform.com)
  76. Mozilla Ventures about
  77. Mozilla Ventures contacts
  78. Deck form (mozilla.vc)
  79. Activate (activatevc.ai)
  80. Atoms and Google
  81. apply.accel-atoms.com
  82. surge.peakxv.com/apply
  83. Antler India
  84. Pitch form (antler.co)
  85. southparkcommons.com/apply
  86. Chiratae Ventures
  87. contact page (ipventures.in)
  88. Online form (venturecatalysts.in)
  89. Apply to pitch (keiretsuforum.in)
  90. Submit Plan (iangroup.vc)
  91. Waveform FAQ
  92. Keiretsu Forum
  93. RDI Fund press release
  94. RDI Fund guidelines
  95. TDB funding guidelines
  96. IndiaAI compute portal
  97. nasscom DeepTech Club Launchpad
  98. Entrepreneur India
  99. Character VC contact form
  100. Inventus Capital
  101. Precursor Ventures (precursorvc.com)
  102. TinySeed FAQ
  103. TiE Boston Angels
  104. Underscore FAQs
  105. Work-Bench
  106. Weekend Fund
  107. speedrun application
  108. Decibel
  109. Uncork (uncorkcapital.com)
  110. Khosla Ventures
  111. Join our portfolio form (airtable.com)
  112. Z Fellows
  113. Betaworks Camp
  114. HMRC EIS (gov.uk)
  115. HMRC SEIS (gov.uk)
  116. Techstars London
  117. apply.techstars.com
  118. Crane
  119. Crane contact
  120. its site (moonfire.com)
  121. SVV pitch
  122. Air Street Fund III (press.airstreet.com)
  123. Air Street
  124. Innovate UK Business Connect (iuk-business-connect.org.uk)
  125. Global Entrepreneur Programme (business.gov.uk)
  126. NDRC
  127. EIC Accelerator 2026 summary (innovationisrael.org.il)
  128. Point Nine
  129. Hummingbird
  130. XAnge
  131. Startup Estonia
  132. Startup Portugal
  133. business.gov.nl
  134. STATION F programs
  135. STATION F FAQ
  136. Startup Wise Guys programmes
  137. Luxinnovation Fit 4 Start
  138. MassChallenge Switzerland
  139. ADGM announcement
  140. 100Unicorns
  141. Surge
  142. Expand North Star (dubaichamberdigital.com)
  143. UAE–India Start-Up Series (startupseries.ae)
  144. Tribune India
  145. Dubai Future Foundation
  146. Dubai AI Seal
  147. Hub71 Access programme
  148. Innovation City packages
  149. Global Brain investment form (globalbrains.com)
  150. KDDI Open Innovation Fund (globalbrains.com)
  151. Incubate Fund India
  152. Beyond Next Ventures
  153. Rebright Partners portfolio
  154. Genesia Ventures
  155. J-Bridge (jetro.go.jp)
  156. J-Bridge member registration (jetro.go.jp)
  157. Entrepreneur India
  158. Panasonic Ignition
  159. SusHi Tech Challenge (sushitech-startup.metro.tokyo.lg.jp)
  160. SEEDS Capital
  161. Enterprise Singapore factsheet (enterprisesg.gov.sg)
  162. MOM EntrePass
  163. Jungle Ventures
  164. Vertex Ventures
  165. TiE Singapore
  166. Atlassian Ventures FAQ
  167. Application form (claude.com)
  168. AI Futures Fund (labs.google)
  169. Google Cloud for Startups
  170. TechCrunch
  171. Opportunity form (forms.monday.com)
  172. HubSpot Ventures
  173. JioGenNext
  174. Application form (forms.gle)
  175. Databricks startup program (sites.google.com)
  176. Databricks Ventures
  177. Cohere startup program
  178. Oracle for Startups
  179. Intel Liftoff (developer.intel.com)
  180. SEC Form ADV 300048 (reports.adviserinfo.sec.gov)
  181. Treelife on flips
  182. Treelife on Groww
  183. 500 Global
  184. Founder Institute (fi.co)
  185. StartupGrantsIndia
  186. YC apply (ycombinator.com)
  187. Techstars Anywhere
  188. Episode 1
  189. Luminar Ventures

About this research: compiled from public sources by an AI research assistant and checked against primary sources on 13 October 2026. Each section links its sources. Prices, model versions and laws change quickly, so check the linked source before acting. This is general research, not legal, financial or investment advice.

Find out what AI could take off your team

Describe the work and the systems involved. We offer a free consultation and a written estimate, and you will talk directly to the developer who would build it.