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Peak XV's Surge; 10 out of the 13 startups are focused on AI & Deeptech Peak XV's scale-up program Surge has launched its ninth cohort of early-stage startups featuring 32 founders across 13 startups. Cohort 09 marks a milestone for the firm.

By Kavya Pillai

Key Takeaways

  • - Surge 09 will include two Australian startups in addition to seven from India and four from South East Asia
  • - More than 75% of the startups are building for global markets
  • - Cohort 09 has a deeptech and AI focus with companies in advanced manufacturing, quantum computing, climate tech, health tech and more

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Surge 09 founders

Peak XV's scale-up program Surge has launched its ninth cohort of early-stage startups featuring 32 founders across 13 startups. Cohort 09 marks a milestone for the firm since it is the first since Peak XV's rebrand from Sequoia India & Southeast Asia, and forays into greater Asia-Pacific expansion with the inclusion of Australia-based startups.

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. "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 deeptech innovation, as well as the abundant talent in these sectors emerging from Asia. 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," said Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Peak XV and Surge.

Surge 09 is a forward-thinking cohort comprising diverse companies from India, Singapore and Australia. Not only are these companies spearheading transformative changes within their respective industries, but over half already have thriving cross-border operations with their sights set on the global market. In this cohort, Mindgrove and InCore are India's first few semiconductor companies that are poised to play significant roles in the country's ambition to become a global semiconductor hub. Mindgrove recently became the first Indian firm to join global silicon IP giant Imagination's Open Access programme.

Newtrace is set to reshape the global green hydrogen market through the manufacture of cost-efficient, next-gen electrolysers that can be deployed around the world at record pace. Ethereal Machines is enabling the production of high-quality precision engineering components via its proprietary multi-axis CNC machines. ZeroK is an AI platform that helps developers troubleshoot production incidents faster. Elivaas is a next generation travel company, reimagining alternative accommodations, vacation rentals and villas in India.

In Australia and Singapore, companies are developing exciting platforms with emerging technologies in AI, deeptech and SaaS – a reflection of the remarkable growth these sectors have seen in recent years. Australia-based Relevance AI is a machine learning startup on a mission to help companies build an AI workforce that automates workflows with no code. Mercu, is an employee engagement platform for companies to hire, train and engage with their frontline teams, empowering at least 70% of the global workforce that are 'deskless' workers.

In Singapore, Pix.ai is dedicated to helping creators produce high quality Anime art through an AI-powered art generator. Horizon Quantum Computing makes software development tools to unlock the potential of quantum computing hardware.

Neurowyzr is an FDA-registered healthtech company that specialises in developing state-of-the-art technologies to mitigate early brain decline. The company is developing solutions to address existing gaps in neurology and brain health. Dozer is an open-source data infrastructure platform that helps data scientists and engineers build highly scalable, real-time data APIs in minutes.

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), Nithin Kamath (Zerodha), Kunal Shah (CRED), Gaurav Munjal (Unacademy), Sanjeev Bikhchandani (Info Edge), Amrish Rau (Pine Labs), Chatri Sityodtong (One Championship), Andre Soelistyo (GoTo), Vidit Aatrey (Meesho), Jaspreet Singh (Druva), Girish Mathrubootham (Freshdesk).

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