Peak XV’s Surge unveils ninth cohort; 10 out of the 13 startups are focused on AI & Deeptech
Surge 09 will include two Australian startups in addition to seven from India and four from South East Asia
Australian companies Mercu and Relevance AI join the 16-week program, reflecting Peak XV’s growing involvement in the local market
SYDNEY, 23 OCTOBER 2023 — Peak XV, the largest venture capital firm in India and Southeast Asia, has unveiled the ninth cohort of Surge, its rapid scale up program for early-stage startups, featuring 32 inspiring founders across 13 companies.
More than 75% of the startups in this cohort are focused on AI and deep tech, and are building for global markets. This is also the first time the program is welcoming two Australian startups – Mercu and Relevance AI – marking Peak XV’s foray into greater Asia-Pacific expansion. Surge 09 is the first cohort since Peak XV’s rebrand from Sequoia India & Southeast Asia.
The Surge program is designed to help founders scale up their businesses, and provides them access to the tools, deep expertise and experience from Peak XV’s network of company builders and exceptional mentors. Recognising the calibre of the entrepreneurial community in Australia, Surge’s mission is to help early-stage startups build international, enduring businesses with the potential to transform the industries they operate in.
Surge 09 is a forward-thinking cohort comprising diverse companies from India and Singapore, in addition to Australia. The Australia companies represent the nation’s bold strides in the emerging technologies market, which has been building momentum in Artificial Intelligence (AI), deep tech and the digital economy.
Relevance AI is a machine learning startup on a mission to help companies build an AI workforce that automates workflows with no code. Founders Daniel Vassilev and Jacky Koh identified an opportunity to help developer teams deploy and integrate AI across business functions, attracting big name clients across all sectors including SaaS, e-commerce, education and gaming.
Employee engagement platform Mercu is dedicated to empowering at least 70% of the global workforce that are ‘deskless’ workers. Australian founders Elliott Gibb and Jascha Zittel who are based in Singapore, focused on enabling companies to hire, train and engage with their frontline teams, leveraging existing chat apps to connect, onboard and upskill employees across the world.
Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Peak XV Partners and Surge said, “As we kick start new company-building journeys with our Surge 09 founders, it is clear that we are witnessing the incredible growth of AI and deep tech innovation, as well as the abundant talent in these sectors emerging from APAC. We are thrilled to be at the frontlines of innovation alongside our ambitious founders, who are leveraging their expertise to chart new ground in exciting, emerging technologies.”
Surge’s curated community of startups now includes nine cohorts, 330+ founders and 140+ startups across 16+ sectors in less than five years. To date, Surge startups have collectively raised over $2 billion in follow-on funding post Surge.
Surge 09 started last week and the founders are going through a 16-week hybrid program focused on company building. As with every cohort, the agenda features top mentors that share their personal experiences and advice and are passionate about giving back to the founder community. Past Surge speakers and mentors have included William Tanuwijaya (Tokopedia/GoTo), Siu Rui Quek (Carousell), Patrick Collison (Stripe), Nitin Kamath (Zerodha), Kunal Shah (CRED), Gaurav Munjal (Unacademy), Sanjeev Bikhchandani (Info Edge), Amrish Rau (Pinelabs), Chatri Sityodtong (One Championship), Andre Soelistyo (GoTo), Vidit Aatrey (Meesho), Jaspreet Singh (Druva), Girish Mathrubootham (Freshdesk).
For the full breakdown of Surge 09 companies, please refer to the Appendix below. To learn more about Surge 09, please head to our blog post, and find out more about each Surge 09 company here.
Appendix: Surge 09 Companies and Founders
About Surge
Surge is Peak XV Partners’ rapid-scale up program. Surge combines up to USD 3 Mn of seed capital with company-building workshops, a global curriculum and support from a community of exceptional mentors and founders. The program’s goal is to supercharge early-stage startups in India and Southeast Asia and give founders an unfair advantage, right out of the gate. For more information on Surge, visit https://surge.peakxv.com
About Peak XV
Peak XV (formerly Sequoia Capital India & SEA) is a leading venture capital firm investing across India, Southeast Asia and beyond. Peak XV (pronounced Peak Fifteen) was the name used for Mount Everest before it was called that. Over the last 17 years of our operations in the region, Peak XV has grown to manage over USD 9 billion in capital across 13 funds and invested in over 400 companies.
To know more, please visit: www.peakxv.com.
