Peak XV Bets On AI, Fintech And Consumer Startups

Venture capital firm Peak XV Partners (formerly known as Sequoia Capital India & Southeast Asia) is betting on artificial intelligence companies, fintechs and consumer startups in the latest cohort of early-stage startups under its Surge platform.

With assets under management of over $9 billion, Peak XV is investing up to $3 million in each of the 23 companies included in the eleventh cohort of Surge, which counts Singapore-based unicorn Airalo, a provider of embedded SIM cards known as eSIMs to travelers, among its alumni.

Peak XV unveiled the Surge 11 cohort, which is dominated by AI in both enterprise and consumer businesses, even as fundraising activity among startups in Asia remained muted. Funding activity fell 26% year-on-year to $65.8 billion in 2024, the lowest in a decade, according to Crunchbase data.

“AI is leading the charge, not just in enterprise applications,” Rajan Anandan, managing director of Peak XV and Surge, said in a statement. “We are also seeing the emergence of new consumer AI companies.”

Launched in 2019, Surge has invested in over 170 startups to date. The platform helps founders through a range of workshops on product development, sales, marketing, engineering, culture, and fundraising, as well as a three-day conference in the U.S. that had in the past featured technology industry leaders such as Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Jensen Huang, CEO of AI chipmaker Nvidia.

The latest Surge cohort includes Finster, an AI platform that provides equity research tools to fund managers and investment bankers. It was founded by Siddhant Jayakumar, an engineer who previously worked at Google DeepMind. “We are now seeing the next wave of fintech companies and exciting new consumer companies in India and the region,” Anandan said. “This cohort truly offers a glimpse of the future.”

Sportswear startup Ten X You also joined this year’s Surge cohort, seeking to tap India’s booming consumer demand. The company was cofounded by Sachin Tendulkar, a former international cricket player known as the “God of Cricket” in India.

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