Google on Thursday introduced its Market Access Program, a new initiative aimed at helping Indian startups overcome entry barriers to global markets, while simultaneously announcing new additions to its Gemma open model family.
Notably, the announcement follows Google’s record USD 15 billion investment unveiled last year to develop a large-scale AI infrastructure hub in Andhra Pradesh. According to the company, these latest initiatives reinforce its sustained commitment to strengthening India’s physical AI infrastructure, including the Global AI Hub in Visakhapatnam. The facility delivers a 1-gigawatt foundational capacity powered by green energy and Google’s advanced AI chips, and it ensures that Indian startups gain access to high-performance computing resources at scale.
Through the Market Access Program, Google aims to help Indian startups refine their go-to-market strategies and significantly shorten the path from local pilots to global deployment. Highlighting one such addition, the company said, “MedGemma 1.5 addresses the growing demand for advanced healthcare AI, enabling startups to work with high-dimensional medical imaging at scale.”
In parallel, Google introduced FunctionGemma, a lightweight model optimised for function calling that supports the next generation of on-device, agent-based systems, thereby enabling AI applications to take secure and reliable action locally. Google stated that together these models expand the core building blocks available to developers who are creating real-world, deployable AI solutions. At the same time, the company unveiled new members of its Gemma open model family and specifically tuned them to help startups build population-scale, production-ready AI applications.
With regard to the Market Access Program, Google clarified that the initiative specifically targets AI-first startups that have progressed beyond the prototype stage and are ready to scale responsibly. Moreover, the program delivers transformative outcomes for founders by enabling enterprise readiness through a specialised curriculum that covers global enterprise selling, complex pricing models, and international buyer psychology.
In addition, the initiative offers access to Google’s global network through direct and facilitated introductions to CIOs and CXOs worldwide. Furthermore, the program includes global immersion experiences in collaboration with ecosystem partners such as TiE Silicon Valley and Alteus, which are designed to help founders build in-person relationships across key buyer markets and international technology hubs. Google also confirmed that “Applications for the Google Market Access Program are now open for eligible startups.”
At the launch event, Preeti Lobana, Country Manager for India at Google, said that AI is rapidly moving beyond research laboratories into classrooms, healthcare settings, agriculture, factories, and enterprises of every scale.“AI startups are no longer experimenting at the edges; they are turning their capability into products that people use, trust, and pay for. This is the point at which models turn into businesses,” she said.
Through the launch of the Market Access Program and the expansion of its Gemma open model family, Google is positioning India as a critical hub for globally scalable AI innovation. By combining infrastructure investment, advanced models, and structured market access support, the company aims to help Indian AI startups transition from local success stories into globally competitive enterprises.
