Three Indonesian Startups Qualify for the Fifth Cohort Surge Accelerator Program

Program scale-up for startups from Sequoia Capital India, Arises, today (30/6) announced the fifth and largest cohort. A total of $55 million has been raised and is ready to be disbursed to 23 early-stage startups, three of which are from Indonesia.

The three startups from Indonesia who were selected to join this wave are: Durianpay, payment provider end-to-end; Rara Delivery, revolutionary instant delivery for e-commerce brands in Indonesia; and Paybook/Vara, an easy-to-use and lightweight staff management platform for MSMEs across Southeast Asia.

Of the 23 selected early-stage startups, the majority are in the sector fintech, payments, communications, logistics, and SaaS.

Previously, there were several Indonesian companies that had also received support from Surge. In the first batch, there were Bobobox and Qoala, as well as Chilibeli, Storie, and Rukita who were selected in second wave. BukuKas, Hangry and CoLearn managed to enter the third wave, and Otoklix became the only startup from Indonesia that was selected in the previous wave.

Rajan Anandan, Managing Director of Surge & Sequoia Capital India said, "Sequoia Capital India is an early partner for some of Indonesia's most influential companies since 2014. With Surge, we are excited to support future Indonesian startups. These companies are helping to digitize and modernize traditional industries and we are proud to support them.”

First started in March 2019, Surge has successfully partnered with 72 startups in its accelerator program. Nearly 50% of companies from the first three cohorts have secured series A funding. Currently, the Surge community has 203 founders, of 91 companies in 15 sectors. One of the interesting facts in this fifth cohort, there are 10 founder woman, the most among the other waves.

Starting this June 30th, founder Surge will undergo a rigorous 16-week program virtually to scale up businesses and give them access to Sequoia with 49 years of global knowledge, as well as tools and experience from the company's successful network of founders and operators.

This program cover things fundamental in building the company, and concludes with an investor week known as UpSurge. over there founder have the opportunity to build connections and relationships, as well as find potential investors and partners who will be part of their company for the long term.

In this wave, Surge has one common thread, namely changing human potential by digitizing the way we live, work, and learn. The ideas brought by this diverse group of founders aim to demonstrate that they are interested in playing an important role in shaping the post-pandemic potential of Southeast Asia and India.

Apart from going through the Surge accelerator program, Sequoia Capital has also invested in several well-known companies in Indonesia such as Tokopedia, Gojek, and Traveloka.