Peak XV Partners has raised the investment ceiling for its Surge seed platform to $5 million per company, up from $3 million. The firm announced its twelfth cohort, Surge 12, comprising 18 startups, marking the first batch to operate under the expanded terms.
Peak XV invested more than $50 million across Surge 12, which collectively raised over $90 million in seed funding. The firm's median investment per company also increased, although it declined to disclose the figure. At least three startups in the cohort had already secured outside funding, in some cases from Peak XV itself, before joining the program.
Rajan Anandan, managing director at Peak XV, told TechCrunch that the bar to raise a Series A has risen significantly, prompting the need for larger seed rounds. He added that the firm is seeing more capital-intensive companies, particularly in deeptech, that require greater initial investment. Anandan also noted that Surge has become increasingly global with each cohort. Of the 18 companies in Surge 12, more than half are based in India, but only five are focused on the domestic market. The remaining 13 target global markets, with founders and companies spanning locations from San Francisco to Sydney.
Since its launch in 2019, when it was known as Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia, Surge has backed more than 180 startups founded by entrepreneurs from over 18 nationalities. Peak XV reports that the 10 largest companies from previous cohorts now generate more than $1 billion in combined annual revenue.