Accel

Quick read

Accel is a global multi-stage venture capital firm founded in 1983, headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. It backs companies from inception through growth, with a portfolio spanning Atlassian, CrowdStrike, Slack, Spotify, and UiPath. Active across the US, Europe, and India, the firm is currently deploying capital aggressively into AI infrastructure and enterprise software.

Key facts

Founded

1983

Founders

Arthur Patterson, Jim Swartz

Employees

91

Sectors

generalist, enterprise, saas, ai, fintech, security

Website

www.accel.com

Investment thesis

Accel backs technology companies from day zero through growth across the US, Europe, and India, concentrating on enterprise software, AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, and fintech. The firm aims to be the first institutional partner to founders before the market has validated the thesis.

Recent activity

• May 2026investment
  Accel invested in Ciridae, an AI platform targeting home services, industrial services, healthcare operators, and construction companies underserved by Fortune 500-focused AI tools. x.com
• May 2026investment
  Accel led Armadin's Series A, backing the cybersecurity startup focused on defending enterprises and governments against AI-generated attacks. in.linkedin.com
• Apr 2026product
  Accel Atoms launched its AI Cohort 2026 in partnership with Google's AI Futures Fund, selecting five companies from over 4,000 applications building applied AI in verticals including ERP modernisation. linkedin.com
• 2025–2026fundraise
  Accel raised $5B in a new venture fund earmarked for AI investments, one of the firm's largest fund closes. linkedin.com
• 2026fundraise
  Accel announced its Fund VIII for India, continuing the firm's dedicated India strategy for early and growth-stage founders. accel.com
• 2026investment
  Accel led a $6M seed round in Fluency, an enterprise AI startup, and also backed s2.dev at the pre-seed stage for real-time infrastructure. in.linkedin.com
• 2026investment
  Accel backed SolveAI out of stealth at the pre-seed stage, with GV (Google Ventures) co-leading the Series A. in.linkedin.com
• 2026press
  Accel published its Globalscape analysis noting that cloud and AI funding across the US, Europe, and Israel is accelerating, framing the current moment as a new industrial revolution. x.com

Notable investments

• ArmadinSeries AMay 2026in.linkedin.com
• CiridaeUndisclosedMay 2026x.com
• SolveAIPre-Seed2026in.linkedin.com
• FluencySeed2026in.linkedin.com
• s2.devPre-Seed2026in.linkedin.com
• PluangUndisclosedMay 2026tracxn.com
• Unnamed Series B (Accel + Khosla + Insight)Series B ($50M)2025topstartups.io
• Unnamed Series GSeries G ($140M, $1.6B valuation)2025topstartups.io

Key people

Named individuals at the firm. We don't expose direct email or phone — use their LinkedIn for outreach.

• Miles Clements · Partner
  LinkedIn
• Prayank Swaroop · Partner
  LinkedIn
• Prashanth Prakash · Partner
  LinkedIn
• Shekhar Kirani · Partner (India)
  LinkedIn
• Dan Levine · Partner
  LinkedIn
• Pratik Agarwal · Partner
• Rich Wong · Partner
• Andrew Braccia · Partner
• Sameer Gandhi · Partner
• Sonali De Rycker · Partner
• Philippe Botteri · Partner
• Luciana Lixandru · Partner
• Harry Nelis · Partner
• Ryan Sweeney · Partner

Sources

• Accel - News
• Accel | LinkedIn
• Accel in India | LinkedIn
• Accel - 2026 Investor Profile - Tracxn
• Accel - Crunchbase Company Profile
• Accel Partners - The Hub
• Accel on X - Ciridae investment
• Prayank Swaroop - Partner at Accel

Other VCs in United States

• Sequoia Capital · Generalist VC, Menlo Park·
• Andreessen Horowitz · Generalist VC, Menlo Park·
• Benchmark Capital · Early-stage VC, San Francisco·
• Founders Fund · Contrarian VC, San Francisco·
• Khosla Ventures · Multi-stage VC, Menlo Park·
• Greylock Partners · Early-stage VC, Menlo Park

Explore VCs by sector

• Generalist in United States
• Enterprise software in United States
• SaaS in United States

Globally

• Generalist worldwide
• Enterprise software worldwide
• SaaS worldwide

Frequently asked