Sequoia Capital India’s Surge selects Vietnamese startup in Surge 04 2020

November 27, 2020 | 15:47

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Surge, Sequoia Capital India’s rapid scale-up programme for startups in Southeast Asia and India, has announced the 17 early-stage startups selected for Surge 04 2020.

Surge 04 startups are headquartered in India, Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia – and for the first time since the launch of the programme, in Australia.

They span a wide range of sectors including edtech, fintech, SME tech, devtools, consumer, healthtech, and B2B marketplaces. This cohort is unique in that over half the startups are Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies.

11 of the 17 companies are building for cross-border markets, pushing beyond their geographical borders from day one. Several of these companies are also challenging the status quo in their respective categories, digitising and disrupting traditionally offline industries like logistics, automotive, and insurance.

Surge facilitates an "open architecture" approach that encourages other investors and members of the startup ecosystem to take part in Surge rounds, in order to serve founders better. Surge 04 startups collectively raised $45.35 million in their Surge round from both Surge and other investors. As with prior cohorts, the majority of companies are coming into the programme with institutional and angel co-investors.

In less than two years since its launch, Surge has evolved into an international community of over 150 founders spread across the globe. This cohort alone has founders based in seven countries – the US, Belgium, India, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Australia.

“Surge 04 has an incredibly talented and determined group of founders we’re proud to partner with. These are founders who have shown the courage to start up and persevere through an extremely challenging year. This cohort is a reflection of how the region’s startup ecosystem will look and think for the next few years – possibly impacting entire economies. Businesses going beyond home markets, thinking digital first, and leveraging technology to solve problems at scale for industries around the world. It’s incredible to be a part of this growth story,” said Rajan Anandan, managing director of Sequoia Capital India LLP.

Like Surge 03, Surge 04 will run entirely online through to March 2021. The online format has allowed the Surge team to make the programme more interactive and inclusive, with several sessions being open to all Surge alumni.

Surge is Sequoia Capital India’s rapid scale-up programme for startups in India and Southeast Asia. Surge combines $1 million to $2 million of seed capital with company-building workshops, a global curriculum and support from a community of exceptional mentors and founders. The programme’s goal is to supercharge early-stage startups and give founders an unfair advantage, right out of the gate.