Southeast Asia
Three month equity-free accelerator for Southeast Asia startups offers direct engineering support from teams like DeepMind. Fine-tune your AI models and scale with world-class mentorship and technical expertise from the best in the industry.
Program benefitsAbout the program
About the program
A global series of programs
Each cohort comes together to tackle technical challenges that can help grow their businesses through a mix of remote and in-person, 1-to-1 mentoring, group learning sessions, and technical discussions and development sprints.
Dedicated expert help
Founders outline the top technical challenges for their startup, and are paired with experts from Google and the industry to solve those challenges to scale their technology and business.
Specialist deep dives
Accelerators include deep dives and workshops focused engineering methodology, product design, customer acquisition, and leadership development for founders and tech leads.
Google product benefits
Early access to AI products: Eligible participants receive Early Access Program and Trusted Tester benefits for Google’s AI products.
Cloud credits: Startups interested in utilizing Cloud credits during the Accelerator may apply here, subject to eligibility review and approval.
Cloud TPUs: Participants are eligible to receive free Cloud TPU access to accelerate open source machine learning research. Find out more.
Key benefits
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Equity-free support
Equity-free support for the duration of the program
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Mentoring
Dedicated mentoring from Google teams.
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Training
Exclusive invitations to technical bootcamps hosted by Google where offered.
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Access to experts
Access to Google's network of industry experts.
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Early access to AI products
Access new Google AI products and tools as relevant through Trusted Tester and EAP benefits.
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Google product credits
Eligible startups receive product credits.
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Strategic support
Support on company and product strategy.
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Technical project partnership
Work hand in hand with experts from Google on your biggest tech challenges.
Entry criteria
Entry criteria
- Startups based in Southeast Asia with tech solutions solving a meaningful challenge
- Startups demonstrating traction, ideally between Pre-series A and Series B stage
- Building a scalable product or service with for an addressable market with a defensible growth model
- Deeply technical, preferably leveraging technologies like machine learning and AI
- Commitment from founders and technical leads to participate and engage in required program sessions
- Founding teams with a growth mindset with sizable in-house technical expertise
- We are committed to building accelerator classes with great startups, and encourage applications from all qualified startups
Key dates
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August 15, 2026
Program Kick-off
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September 28 - October 9, 2026
Bootcamp
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November, 2026
Graduation and Demo Day
Accelerator Alumni
Meet our mentors
Frequently asked questions
This cohort of Google for Startups Accelerator: Southeast Asia will accept applications from Pre-Series A to Series B startups with an AI product headquartered in Southeast Asia. These companies should have AI products solving meaningful problems, launched to market with user traction. Their team should have full time cofounders, stacked tech team with dedicated AI engineers.
Startups selected for the Accelerator will outline their visions, AI use cases, and challenges. They will then participate in an in-person bootcamp featuring tailored content, one-on-one mentorship, and specialized support from our global mentor network. Participants will also gain access to Google’s Cloud, Play, Android, AI/ML, and Ads experts.
Following the bootcamp, startups will have access to Google engineers, experts to develop their AI products on Google AI infrastructure, including but not limited to Gemini and Vertex AI.
Over the subsequent 12 weeks, leading to Graduation and Demo Day, startups and the program team will continue with mentoring and coaching sessions, as well as open workshops.
We seek startups in Southeast Asia addressing significant challenges with AI-based solutions, based on the criteria outlined previously.
Completed applications are reviewed concurrently with the application phase to determine eligibility for the accelerator program. Eligible applications then undergo review by a panel of experts and the program team. Shortlisted startups will be invited for an interview or pitch session to assess their team, the problem they are addressing, their proposed solution, and its scalability. Subsequently, a selection board will review these startups to create the final list. The selected startups will then receive the program contract for signature and official announcement.
The Google for Startups Accelerator: Southeast Asia program is equity-free for all participating startups. Please note that we do require all founders (CEO and CTO) and appropriate team members to be available to join all elements of the program.
The Accelerator's application window opens in May 2026, and selected startups will be notified in early August. The program kicks off in mid-August and aims to graduate the cohort in early November. You can find the detailed timeline under Key Dates.
Startups must meet specific criteria to be eligible for Google product credit offerings. To learn more about the Google Cloud credit eligibility requirements, please visit the Google Cloud startup page.
Yes. You can view our alumni on the directory page.
Our program provides high-potential startups with the comprehensive support needed to scale effectively. Key benefits include expert mentorship, technical assistance from various teams across Google, including DeepMind, alongside early access to emerging Google technologies (conditions applied). The program further drives growth by facilitating strategic industry connections, investor showcases, tech ecosystem immersion tours and access to startup capital assistance from program partners.
Click here to learn more about the program benefits (T&Cs apply).