Amazon Web Services(AWS) has selected three Indian-origin generative AI startups—Hyperbots, Stimuler, and Smallest AI—for its prestigious 2025 Generative AI Accelerator (GAIA) program, solidifying India’s emerging leadership in global AI innovation. These three ventures join a cohort of 40 startups from across the world that will participate in an intensive eight-week accelerator beginning October 13 at Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle, culminating in December at AWS.
Inside the AWS Generative AI Accelerator (GAIA) Program
The AWS GAIA program, now in its third cohort, is designed for late Seed to Series A startups building foundational or agentic generative AI technologies that fuel the next wave of tech disruption. Startups in the program receive:
- Up to $1M in credits to accelerate model development, training, and deployment.
- In-person and remote mentorship from AWS domain experts, executive leaders, and a diverse set of partners from the AI industry.
- Deep technical enablement, including training on stack optimization, machine learning performance, and fine-tuning open-source or foundation models.
- Go-to-market strategy workshops, customer networking, and access to AWS’s global investor and partnership ecosystem.
This year’s cohort reflects Amazon’s focus on “startups developing the foundational technologies that will define what’s possible with AI”—including those working on data preparation, model monitoring, AI infrastructure, as well as agentic tools and vertical AI products. With entries from Asia Pacific, North America, EMEA, and Latin America, the program is highly competitive, with less than a 2% acceptance rate.
Meet the Selected Indian-Origin Startups
- Hyperbots (Bengaluru): Founded in 2023, Hyperbots specializes in finance and accounting AI assistants that automate manual workflows by up to 80%. The startup serves 100+ clients and recently raised $6.5 million in Series A funding.
- Stimuler (Varanasi): A 2022-founded edtech startup, Stimuler leverages AI for real-time spoken English feedback and boasts 4 million+ app downloads and 45,000 paid users. It recently raised $3.8 million in pre-Series A funding.
- Smallest AI (San Francisco & Bengaluru): Building next-gen, ultra-fast voice AI models with real-time text-to-speech (TTS) agents. Its TTS engine is capable of producing high-quality speech in 100 milliseconds and has raised $5 million from leading VCs.
Broader Impact and Industry Context
GAIA program represents a global commitment of Amazon to accelerating generative AI innovation by breaking down technical and commercial barriers for promising startups. The initiative is part of Amazon Web Services’ multi-hundred-million-dollar bet to support AI-driven ventures worldwide. India’s strong showing in the latest cohort highlights the region’s surging talent pool, with local founders now addressing global challenges in finance, education, language, and voice AI.
Tiffany Bloomquist, Head of Startups (APJ) at AWS, emphasized, “The region has emerged as a powerful hub for generative AI innovation, solving regional challenges with global impact.” Through GAIA, AWS connects Indian startups to expert resources, infrastructure, and international market opportunities—underscoring India’s pivotal role in the worldwide generative AI ecosystem.
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In summary:
AWS’s selection of three standout Indian-origin startups for its GAIA program confirms India’s rapid ascent in generative AI, offering these companies not only funding but deep technical mentorship and access to the world’s leading cloud and AI infrastructure. As these startups scale, they are set to drive meaningful impact at the intersection of AI, business automation, edtech, and digital experiences—contributing to India’s reputation as a global generator of cutting-edge AI solution
