Peak XV Partners, a major venture capital firm investing across India and Southeast Asia, has increased the amount it can invest in individual startups through Surge, its seed-stage investment platform. The firm, which manages more than $10 billion in assets, announced the latest Surge cohort featuring 18 startups.
At least three startups in the new cohort had secured external funding before entering Surge. In some cases, Peak XV had also invested in these companies earlier. Consequently, the new cohort, named Surge 12, marks the first group to operate under Peak XV’s increased investment limit of up to $5 million per startup, compared with the previous ceiling of $3 million.
Peak XV invested more than $50 million across the 18 companies in Surge 12. Meanwhile, the startups collectively raised more than $90 million in seed funding, according to the venture capital firm. Although Peak XV did not reveal its median cheque size, the firm confirmed that the median investment per startup has also increased.
“The bar to raise a Series A has gone up pretty significantly,” Rajan Anandan, managing director at Peak XV, said in an interview. He added that the firm is also seeing more capital-intensive companies, particularly in deeptech, that are raising larger rounds at the seed stage.
Moreover, Surge has continued to expand its international footprint with every new cohort. Anandan told TechCrunch that Surge 12 includes founders and startups operating across locations ranging from San Francisco to Sydney.
Only five of the 18 startups in the latest cohort primarily target the Indian market. However, more than half of the companies have built their operations in India while targeting customers in international markets. Therefore, the cohort highlights the growing gap between where startups build their businesses and where they seek customers.
Since Peak XV launched Surge in 2019, when the firm operated as Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia, the programme has backed more than 180 startups founded by entrepreneurs from over 18 nationalities. Furthermore, Peak XV said the 10 largest companies to emerge from these cohorts now generate more than $1 billion in combined annual revenue.
Anandan described Surge as Peak XV’s main channel for seed-stage investments. At the same time, the firm continues to support its portfolio companies as they raise subsequent funding rounds. According to Anandan, Surge generally attracts repeat founders, experienced operators, and highly specialised technical entrepreneurs.
Additionally, people who previously worked in established technology companies account for around 50% to 60% of a typical Surge cohort. This founder profile reflects Peak XV’s focus on experienced operators and specialised talent at the earliest stages of company building.
The Surge 12 startups cover a broad range of sectors, including artificial intelligence, robotics, space technology, consumer products, healthcare, music, and fintech. The cohort includes companies working on AI safety and personal computing, as well as autonomous robots designed to operate inside underground pipelines and satellites capable of detecting radio-frequency signals from orbit.
Overall, the latest cohort reflects Peak XV’s increased seed-stage investment capacity and Surge’s growing focus on globally oriented startups. With larger cheques and a wider geographic footprint, the programme continues to support early-stage companies across capital-intensive and technology-driven sectors.
