Peak XV picks 18 startups for latest Surge cohort

Surge cohort 12 Bengaluru: Peak XV Partners has selected 18 startups for the 12th cohort of Surge, its seed-stage investment programme. The firm has named 15 of them, spanning AI, healthcare, consumer products, robotics, space technology, financial services and music. The remaining three are operating without publicly disclosed names.Surge can invest up to $5 million in an individual startup. Peak XV did not disclose how much it invested in each company in the new cohort.Several of the selected startups are building products around AI. Alma, founded by former Microsoft Research employees who later became founding engineers at Sarvam AI, is working on a new approach to personal computing. Reinforce Labs is developing tools to test and improve the reliability of AI systems used by businesses. Hiloop is building infrastructure to help companies adapt open-weight AI models to specific tasks.The cohort also includes companies working beyond software. Puralink is developing robots to inspect underground pipes, while ULOOK is building satellites to detect radio-frequency signals. In healthcare, August AI combines AI tools with physician-led care, while Hoola Health is building services for children. Riffle is developing a browser-based platform for musicians to record and collaborate.The three unnamed companies are working in education, applied AI and medical products. Rajan Anandan, managing director at Peak XV and Surge, said AI was increasingly becoming part of how products work, rather than a feature added to them.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.