Peak XV Partners has raised the most it will invest in a single startup through Surge, its seed-stage platform, to $5 million from $3 million. The firm announced the change while unveiling a new cohort of 18 companies.

The new batch, called Surge 12, is the first to operate under the higher ceiling. Peak XV invested more than $50 million across the cohort, which has collectively raised over $90 million in seed funding, according to the firm. It said its median investment per company has also risen but declined to give the figure. It also hasn't said how the new ceiling was allocated, so not every company necessarily received the full $5 million.

Rajan Anandan, managing director at Peak XV, explained the move by pointing to a tougher funding climate: "The bar to raise a Series A has gone up pretty significantly."

About the cohort

  • Sectors: The startups span AI, robotics, space, consumer, healthcare, music and fintech.

  • Geography: More than half are based in India, but only five of the 18 focus on the Indian market. The other 13 target global markets, with founders based in cities from San Francisco to Sydney.

  • Prior funding: At least three companies had already raised outside money before joining, in some cases from Peak XV itself. Among them is AI matchmaker Ditto, which raised $9.2 million in a Peak XV-led seed round earlier this year. Rosella raised about $2.5 million in a pre-seed round led by Peak XV and Intact Private Capital.

  • Examples: Puralink is building autonomous robots to navigate underground pipelines. ULOOK is developing autonomous satellite systems for radio-frequency monitoring and spectrum analysis.

About Surge

Surge launched in 2019, when Peak XV was still Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia. It has since backed more than 180 startups whose founders come from more than 18 nationalities. Peak XV says the 10 largest companies from Surge cohorts now generate more than $1 billion in combined annual revenue. The firm manages more than $10 billion in assets.

Anandan described Surge as Peak XV's primary route for seed investing, alongside its standard seed strategy. The firm says it remains an investor as companies move into later funding rounds.