Google Picks Four Indian Startups for Its First DeepMind Climate AI Accelerator

Google announced today that four Indian startups have been selected for the inaugural edition of the Google DeepMind Accelerator: AI for the Planet programme, joining a cohort of 16 organisations from across the Asia-Pacific region working on artificial intelligence solutions to environmental challenges.

The Four Startups

Terrastack is combining satellite imagery with agronomic data to deliver plot-level land intelligence for smallholder farmers, part of the programme's sustainable agriculture track aimed at making farming decisions more precise and accessible for growers with limited resources. Varaha Climate is helping small farmers earn carbon credits by verifying regenerative agriculture and carbon-removal practices through remote sensing and AI, addressing one of the more persistent bottlenecks in India's nascent carbon-credit ecosystem: reliable, low-cost verification at scale.

Farmers for Forests is deploying AI-powered drones to convert smallholder agroforestry into measurable carbon and biodiversity outcomes, bringing monitoring capabilities to nature-based climate projects that have historically struggled to prove their impact to investors and buyers. Climitra Carbon rounds out the group, using geospatial AI to verify the removal of invasive plant species and their conversion into biochar, linking land restoration efforts to scalable carbon solutions.

What the Startups Get

Over the next three months, the selected companies will receive access to Google's latest AI stack, along with tailored technical support and mentorship intended to help them scale their solutions. The programme is Google DeepMind's first dedicated climate-focused accelerator for the Asia-Pacific region, reflecting a broader push by large technology companies to position AI as a tool for climate adaptation and mitigation rather than purely a commercial or consumer technology.

Part of a Broader India Push

Alongside the accelerator cohort, Google used the announcement to detail four additional initiatives aimed at India's clean-energy transition. These include expanding an AI-powered solar application programming interface across roughly 300 million Indian rooftops to automate roof surveys and layout planning, a long-term agreement with ReNew Power for a 150-megawatt utility-scale solar project in Rajasthan, a collaboration with Mitti Labs to help smallholder rice farmers in Telangana adopt alternate wetting-and-drying techniques that curb methane-producing microbes in paddy fields, and new research and innovation opportunities routed through the government's Manthan platform.

Why It Matters

The selections add to a fast-growing list of India-based climate-tech ventures drawing global corporate backing, at a time when the country's chip and deep-tech startup ecosystem more broadly has been raising record sums, according to recent industry data. For India's climate-tech founders, direct access to Google's AI infrastructure and mentorship network offers a meaningful leg up in a segment where compute costs and technical expertise remain significant barriers to scaling agriculture- and carbon-focused AI products beyond pilot projects.

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