Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India & SEA) has announced the eleventh edition of Surge, its flagship rapid-scale-up program designed for early-stage founders. Launched in 2019, Surge has grown into one of the most impactful startup platforms globally, with its portfolio now spanning over 170 companies, 400 founders, 17 nationalities, and 18 sectors.
To date, Peak XV’s Surge startups have raised more than $3 billion in follow-on capital, and the top ten have already crossed $1 billion in combined annual revenues.
The Peak XV Surge 11 cohort brings together 23 startups from India, Southeast Asia, the US, and beyond. This batch reflects the shifting priorities of the global startup ecosystem, where artificial intelligence continues to dominate.
Out of the 23 startups, 12 are AI-first ventures building across verticals, enterprises, and consumer-focused use cases. They are joined by 4 fintech innovators, 4 consumer brands, and 3 infrastructure and developer tools companies. Interestingly, three of the selected startups are still operating in stealth mode, underlining the cutting-edge nature of the cohort.
“AI is leading the charge, not just in enterprise applications but also in transforming traditional industries from banking and healthcare to semiconductors and manufacturing,” said Rajan Anandan, Managing Director at Peak XV Partners. “But AI is not the full story – we are now seeing the next wave of fintech companies and exciting new consumer companies in India and our region.”
As with past cohorts, Surge 11 startups will benefit from up to $3 million in seed funding, along with mentorship, global immersion programs, and company-building workshops. The initiative combines hands-on guidance in product, engineering, fundraising, and culture, designed to accelerate growth during the most critical stage of a company’s journey.
Meet the 23 Startups of Surge 11
Here’s a closer look at the companies that made it to the latest Peak XV Surge batch:
1. AIR Trading
Founders: Grant Brits, Tim Blundy | Founded: 2025
AIR Trading is building AI-native intelligent trading systems, aiming to create self-optimizing platforms that bring efficiency to financial markets through advanced algorithms.
2. Aretto
Founder: Satyajit Mittal | Founded: 2019
Aretto is a growth-adaptive kids’ footwear brand, offering shoes that expand with children’s feet using SuperGrooves and Infi-Knit fabric. Available via D2C and major e-commerce platforms, Aretto promotes healthy foot development.
3. Cybrilla
Founders: Anchal Jajodia, Satish Perala | Founded: 2010
Cybrilla powers the fintech ecosystem with its cloud-based API, Fintech Primitives, simplifying regulatory and technical workflows. It’s also a SEBI-registered Category I RTA.
4. Finster AI
Founder: Siddhant Jayakumar | Founded: 2023
Finster AI is an AI-native platform for finance professionals, automating research workflows and delivering insights faster. It is led by an ex-Google DeepMind AI researcher.
5. Ignosis
Founders: Chintan Sheth, Nirav Prajapati | Founded: 2022
Ignosis delivers financial data intelligence for the BFSI sector, empowering decision-making. It has already raised $1.5 million from Groww and LetsVenture.
6. Just Words
Founders: Jeff Hara, Neha Mittal | Founded: 2024
Just Words optimizes digital marketing content with AI. From emails to websites, it replaces traditional A/B testing with continuous AI-driven optimization.
7. NEAU
Founders: CoCo, Hanson | Founded: — NA
NEAU is a premium active and outdoor lifestyle brand, combining proprietary fabric technology with modern design to deliver high-performance products.
8. Neude Skin
Founders: Aayshya & Advay Jhunjhunwala | Founded: 2022
Neude Skin is a milk-based skincare brand, blending natural ingredients with modern actives like hyaluronic acid and vitamin C. Its “Hi-Glaze Skin” concept targets sensitive skin.
9. Nirmata
Founders: Ritesh Patel, Damien Toledo, Jim Bugwadia | Founded: 2024
Nirmata provides an AI-powered control hub for Kyverno, detecting misconfigurations, generating fixes, and enforcing policy-as-code with full audit trails.
10. OnFinance
Founders: Anuj & Priyesh Srivastava | Founded: 2022
OnFinance is a GenAI SaaS platform for finance. Powered by its LLM NeoGPT, it offers AI copilots for research, wealth management, and sales. It recently closed a $4.2M Pre-Series A led by Peak XV.
11. Palo
Founders: Harry Jones, Jay Neo, Shivam Pankaj Kumar | Founded: — NA
Palo equips short-form content creators with AI workflows, streamlining creation, tracking, and iteration with LLM-driven scalability.
12. Pre6
Founders: Amod Malviya, Rishi Kedia | Founded: 2024
Founded by Udaan cofounder Amod Malviya, Pre6 applies AI to modernize manufacturing processes, enhancing efficiency and precision.
13. Qbeast
Founder: Srikanth Satya | Founded: 2020
Qbeast is an optimization engine for Lakehouse platforms, enabling faster, more cost-efficient queries for Databricks, Snowflake, and Dremio.
14. Round1 AI
Founders: Jainam Talsania, Saumil Tripathi, Shreeyash Dharmadhikari | Founded: 2023
Round1 AI transforms hiring with AI-powered candidate screening. Professionals give a single interview that unlocks multiple job opportunities for six months.
15. SixSense
Founders: Akanksha Jagwani, Avni Agarwal | Founded: 2018
SixSense provides predictive insights for semiconductor manufacturing. Its no-code computer vision platform helps build and monitor deep learning models to boost yield and productivity.
16. Supanote
Founder: Samyukktha Thirumeni | Founded: 2024
Supanote automates admin tasks for behavioral health clinics, generating session notes, tracking therapy, and offering an AI scribe for clinicians.
17. Ten X You
Founders: Karan Arora, Karthik Gurumurthy, Sachin Tendulkar | Founded: 2024
Backed by cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, Ten X You is an activewear and sports accessories brand, offering cricket gear, footwear, and apparel made in India.
18. Thanks
Founders: Cayley Ostrin, Doron Ostrin, Steven Tesoriero | Founded: — NA
Thanks helps brands boost customer loyalty and revenue by designing personalized ad experiences and rewards programs.
19. Tonbo.io
Founders: Cream Tang, Tzu Gwo | Founded: 2022
Tonbo.io offers a serverless, edge-first database, enabling real-time analytics and embedded data ownership, challenging centralized systems.
20. Vault Wealth
Founders: Bilal Abou-Diab, Sami Abdul Hadi | Founded: 2022
Vault Wealth is a Dubai-based digital wealth management platform delivering institutional-grade advisory and personalized portfolios for high-net-worth individuals.
21. [Stealth Startup #1] – Operating confidentially, building in the AI space.
22. [Stealth Startup #2] – Operating confidentially, details undisclosed.
23. [Stealth Startup #3] – Operating confidentially, details u
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Why Surge 11 Matters
Peak XV Surge’s past cohorts have produced some of India and Southeast Asia’s most successful startups, including Plum, Atlan, MasterChow, and Elivaas. With the 11th batch, Peak XV is doubling down on AI while keeping a balanced focus on fintech, consumer brands, and infrastructure – sectors that continue to attract investor attention despite a challenging funding climate.
For early-stage founders, getting into Surge provides not just capital but also credibility, connections, and global visibility. With India’s AI, fintech, and consumer innovation markets expanding rapidly, the Surge 11 startups are entering the ecosystem at a pivotal time.
