Google, Accel India accelerator choses 5 startups and none are ‘AI wrappers’

Many synthetic intelligence startup concepts are nonetheless little greater than superficial “wrappers” constructed on prime of present fashions. However because the AI mannequin makers add extra options, buyers are cautious of startups that would grow to be so simply pointless.

Working example: when reviewing extra 4,000 functions for the joint AI accelerator for India startups run by Google and enterprise agency Accel, “wrapper” concepts dominated. However none of them had been among the many 5 startups for the most recent cohort, Accel companion Prayank Swaroop informed Trendster (pictured above).

Introduced in November, the AI-focused Atoms program by Google and Accel goals to again early-stage startups constructing AI merchandise linked to India. Startups chosen for the most recent cohort will obtain as much as $2 million in funding from Accel and Google’s AI Futures Fund, together with as much as $350,000 in cloud and AI compute credit from Google, the companies mentioned.

Roughly 70% of the rejected functions had been “wrappers” — startups that layered AI options akin to chatbots on prime of present software program however “weren’t reimagining new workflows utilizing AI,” Swaroop mentioned.

Lots of the remaining functions that had been denied, Swaroop mentioned, fell into crowded classes akin to advertising automation and AI recruitment instruments, areas the place buyers noticed little novelty. Startups in these sectors typically battle to distinguish themselves, he mentioned.

This isn’t, maybe, stunning. This yr’s program obtained almost 4 occasions the functions than earlier Accel’s Atoms cohorts — with many first-time founders.

India’s rising AI ecosystem stays largely targeted on enterprise functions and Swaroop mentioned the functions mirrored that. About 62% of the submissions targeted on productiveness instruments and one other 13% on software program improvement and coding, which means round three-quarters of the functions had been enterprise software program concepts moderately than shopper merchandise. (Swaroop had hoped to see extra concepts for healthcare and training.)

Jonathan Silber, co-founder and director of Google’s AI Futures Fund, mentioned the 5 startups chosen aligned carefully with areas the place Google expects AI to see deeper real-world adoption.

This system doesn’t require startups to make use of Google’s fashions solely, Silber mentioned, noting that many corporations mix a number of fashions relying on the workflow. The aim, he mentioned, is to assemble suggestions from startups on how Google’s fashions carry out in real-world functions.

Insights from these startups can then be fed again to Google DeepMind groups to assist enhance future fashions, creating what Silber described as a “flywheel” between startup experimentation and AI improvement. “If an organization is utilizing an alternate mannequin, which means Google has work to do to construct one of the best mannequin out there,” he informed Trendster.

This yr’s startups chosen are:

• Ok-Dense, which is constructing an AI “co-scientist” to speed up analysis in fields akin to life sciences and chemistry;
• Dodge.ai, which develops autonomous brokers for enterprise ERP techniques;
• Persistence Labs, which focuses on voice AI for name centre operations;
• Zingroll, which is constructing a platform for AI-generated movies and exhibits;
• Stage Aircraft, which applies AI to industrial automation in automotive and aerospace manufacturing.