Sequoia Capital India has, along with co-investors, invested in 15 early-stage startups in Southeast Asia and India that form part of the seventh cohort of Surge, its startup accelerator programme.
The seventh batch of Surge includes founders who are leveraging their expertise in technology and consumer insights to drive innovation in India, Southeast Asia, and the world, according to the announcement.
One-third of the startups in this cohort also have at least one female founder.
Nearly half of the companies were pre-launched when Surge partnered with them. The co-investors include Alpha JWC Ventures, Y Combinator, Beenext, Cocoon Capital, Kae Capital, Luno, Global Ventures, and Polygon Ventures.
With the latest cohort, Sequoia Capital India has now garnered a community of 281 founders across 127 startups in 16 sectors. Surge startups have collectively raised over $1.7 billion in follow-on funding.
Kicked off in 2019, Surge is a pre-Series A programme that invests $1 million to $2 million of capital and helps early-stage founders with mentorship to build their companies. The programme began with an initial corpus of $200 million.
Funding Societies secures $50m loan facility from HSBC
Online lending platform Funding Societies, also known as Modalku in Indonesia, announced that it secured a $50-million credit facility from HSBC Singapore as it aims to continue expanding in the region.
The firm said the new credit facility will allow Funding Societies to channel the funds to its range of financing solutions across SME segments in all five of its markets — Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
“HSBC’s foresight, global capabilities and scalable approach equip us to better satisfy the underserved SME segments in the region,” said Kelvin Teo, co-founder and group CEO of Funding Societies / Modalku.
SMEs make up 97% of all enterprises in Southeast Asia, bringing 40% GDP value across the region, according to a YCP Solidiance report.
Under the terms of the deal, HSBC will act as the structuring bank, lender, facility, and security agent in providing financial solutions to support Funding Societies’ business expansion in the region.