Peak XV selects 18 startups for 12th Surge cohort, doubles down on AI and deep tech
Executive Take
This cohort shows AI moving from a product feature to core infrastructure across unrelated sectors like insurance, hiring and robotics. Leaders building AI strategy should watch which of these infrastructure bets Peak XV scales next.
Executive Summary
Peak XV selected 18 startups for the 12th cohort of Surge, its seed accelerator, spanning AI, robotics, space tech, consumer internet, healthcare and fintech. Peak XV invests up to $5 million per startup. Since 2019, Surge has backed over 180 startups across 18 nationalities, with its top 10 generating over $1 billion in combined annual revenue.
Why It Matters
AI and tech leaders get an early signal of where serious venture money is betting on AI-native infrastructure, not just AI features. HR leaders should note Kello, a people-intelligence startup, as a sign of AI entering HR tooling directly.
Bizquad Perspective
The real story isn't the 18 startups, it's that Peak XV is betting AI-native infrastructure plays like model training and enterprise AI security will outlast today's AI feature wrappers.