Blume Ventures

• Blume Ventures was founded by Karthik Reddy and Sanjay Nath in 2010. It was established to bridge the gap between angel investors and the large institutional investors in the Indian market back then. It invests in early stage start-ups and backs them not just with funding but also with active mentoring.
• It looks for entrepreneurs that are willing to solve hard problems and create an impact in large markets.
• It has its portfolio presence in Mumbai (19%), Bengaluru (44%), Delhi (22%) & International (7%).
• Till date, Blume has invested in over 130+ startups across categories. It maintains a 60:40 ratio while investing in domestic and global startups.
• It currently manages capital worth $150 mn and has made over 22 exits so far.

How they support startups

Apart from this, it has partnered with global financial & strategic later-stage investors. It is part of the Draper Venture Network, a global alliance of select venture firms. Also, it has a strong backing from industry and functional experts to counsel and guide founders through all aspects of the startup journey.

• Philosophy – To invest in early stage startups that bring to the table revolutionary ideas, solutions to problems that are difficult to crack and the ones expected to cause an impact in large markets. It believes in investing for a long term (roughly 8-10 years). They also prefer startups with co-founders which according to them indicates soundness from business point of view.

Process:

• They usually prefer to invest in ventures with that are tech-led, i.e., businesses backed by code or intellectual property. They have an inclination for B2B businesses. They believe that building capital moats by themselves is a winning strategy.
• They believe that just providing capital is not the whole and sole purpose of helping startups, apart from the capital reserves and co-investment partners, they strongly believe in connecting these investee companies with their distinctive formal platforms and engagements. These include services partners Constellation Blu and Constellation Talent, in-house resources across growth capital, market development, operational best practices and community. They deliver value through resources and on-demand mentoring and assistance as and when required.
• They work very closely for the first few years with the founders. Then they elevate their focus to keep pace with the demands of their growth companies. (But, we also stick with, and support, our less successful ventures well beyond traditional venture norms dictated by power laws and portfolio concentration. We do this, not because power laws don’t apply to us, but because supporting and sticking by founders is second nature to them)