Change Engine to invest $5 million in early-stage Indian AI startups over next five years

Startup accelerator Change Engine on Tuesday announced plans to invest over $5 million (about Rs 43 crore) over the next five years in early-stage AI startups from India. It aims to foster AI startups developing Machine Learning stack technologies and business applications from India for the global market, a company statement said.

“Each year, we will seed 6 startups with $50,000 each, followed by up to $1,50,000 through syndication, paving the way for over $5 million in total investment over the next three years,” said Varun Aggarwal, Founder of Change Engine.

The company’s 6-month accelerator programme, which begins June 2025, will feature a sandbox for building AI products, a customer advisory board in Silicon Valley, and a mentor network of successful entrepreneurs.

The customer advisory board will include industry leaders from Amazon, Google, McKinsey, and Adobe, among others.