New Delhi, March 1,2023:  Surge, which is Sequoia India and Southeast Asia’s rapid scale-up programme for early-stage startups, on Wednesday said it has launched its eighth cohort, featuring 30 inspiring founders across 12 companies.

‘Surge 08’ cohort includes startups that are building futuristic products across climate tech, AI, metaverse, digital health, new consumer brands and new models of e-commerce.

The curated community of startups under the programme now includes eight cohorts, more than 300 founders and over 130 startups across more than 16 sectors, Sequoia India and Southeast Asia said in a statement.

“Surge 08 founders are building next-gen products and businesses that have the potential to revolutionise their sectors over the next decade,” said Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Sequoia India & Southeast Asia, and Surge.

These diverse set of founders each bring with them unique experiences and expertise to create ambitious and differentiated products and platforms to the problems they are tackling, and “we are excited to be a part of their early company-building journeys,” Anandan added.

Surge combines up to $3 million of seed capital with company-building workshops, a global curriculum and support from a community of exceptional mentors and founders.

Half of Surge 08 startups have at least one female founder, including an AI and natural language processing PhD holder focused on AI in healthcare and two medical doctors from Indonesia who are leveraging technology to democratise access to health and wellness services.

‘Surge 08’ is currently in progress and the founders are going through a 16-week hybrid programme focused on company building, said the leading VC firm.

Sequoia Capital India and Sequoia Capital Southeast Asia actively partner with founders from a wide range of companies, including BYJUs, CRED, Druva, Freshworks, Groww, Mamaearth, Pine Labs, Polygon, Razorpay, Truecaller, Zomato and more.