Peak XV, the largest venture capital firm in India and Southeast Asia, has unveiled the ninth cohort of Surge (Surge 09), its rapid scale-up program for early-stage start-ups.
This year’s cohort features 32 inspiring founders across 13 companies, 10 of whom focus on AI and deep tech that are building for global markets.
This cohort also marks the first time two Australian start-ups have entered the program with the admission of Mercu and Relevance AI, marking Peak XV’s foray into greater Asia-Pacific expansion.
Relevance AI is a machine learning start-up that aims to help companies build an AI workforce that automates workflows with no code. It is the brainchild of Daniel Vassilev and Jacky Koh who have identified an opportunity to help developer teams deploy and integrate AI across business functions, attracting big-name clients across all sectors including SaaS, eCommerce, education and gaming.
Meanwhile, Mercu is an employee engagement platform dedicated to empowering at least 70 per cent of the global workforce that are ‘deskless’ workers. Australian founders Elliott Gibb and Jascha Zittel, who are based in Singapore, shared that their focus is 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.
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 mentors. It also aims to help early-stage start-ups build enduring international businesses with the potential to transform the industries they operate in.
“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,” Rajan Anandan, Managing Director of Peak XV Partners and Surge, said. “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.”
This year’s cohort will go through a 16-week hybrid program focused on company building that will feature notable mentors who will share their personal experiences and advice and are passionate about giving back to the founder community.
To date, Surge’s community has included 330+ founders and 140+ start-ups across 16+ sectors and has collectively raised over $2 billion in follow-on funding post-Surge during the past five years.
