The Omega Files

The Omega Files
Ep 1, Dec 2023 | Blume Fund I Declassified
Karthik Reddy | karthik@blume.vc

Adithya Santhosh | adithya@blume.vc
The 24th and last letter of the Greek alphabet, Omega (Ω), essentially means the end
of something, the last, the ultimate limit of a set, or the "Great End." Without getting
into a lesson in Greek, Omega signifies a grand closure, like the conclusion of a
large-scale event.
A Note from the

As with all naming conventions, the name had to stick through the test of time. With the
first chapter of the Blume story drawing to a close, the publishing of a long-stated claim
Protagonist
by me to my partners (investors and team) that we would do a Fund by Fund
deconstruction, in the public domain, like never done before, was upon us. The name
had to connote the gravitas of this kick off publication but also be resilient enough to
withstand a decade of scrutiny. It had to embrace venture craft and speak of cycle
completions, the end state of a fund life, a fund cycle, and become capable of being an
annual narrative.
Blume Ventures presents the First Edition of The Omega Files.
- Karthik Reddy
It has taken over a dozen years to get here. I was hoping it would be done by year 10. And
we still have a few years before the Final Chapters of the Blume Fund I journey are
entirely closed.
For now, we found a way to give all investors what they want. Some wanted us to close
the Fund irrespective and get their returns locked in at prevailing asset prices, while others
wanted to stay with the winners longer. While we’ve managed that through two Continuity
Why this,
Funds, that’s not what the First Edition of The Omega Files are about.
It’s about a proclamation from 6-7 years ago. Eyes widened at various LP (“Limited
And why now?

Partner”) offices around the world when I told them that we will start declassifying our Fund
performances and track records as we reach the end of life of the fund. There’s never a
perfect time but this year felt like the closest we’ve been to the emotion of launching this
new publication.
We would also like to thank Tushar Mandhana, Krish Agrawal, Lavanya Pant who have
been incredible interns assisting Adithya and Karthik on this effort. Special thanks to
Blume leadership members Alok Mehta, Mitul Mehta, Rohit Kaul, Ria Shroff Desai and
the wider team for their data and editorial inputs. A huge shout-out to the folks over at
India Quotient for agreeing to, and contributing towards their feature here.
Raised in an era where VC was barely understood by most Indian stakeholders, Blume
Fund I was a pathbreaking one:
● First ever private Indian VC fund raised / closed with 100% domestic capital
● Paved the way for about 8-10 domestic fund houses to be born quickly after or in
parallel - Kae, Prime, IQ, Omnivore, IvyCap, YourNest, Orios, Nirvana etc, all before
2014-15
Synopsis
● First Domestic VC to be presented to wealth management clients at scale (360One,
prev. IIFL Wealth - was only common for PE and Real Estate funds to use this path)
● First time that a Fund of this nature has now rolled over into a Managed Secondary or
a Continuity Fund structure with a 100% Indian investor base (this happened in
2021-23) – extending the life of our best Fund I assets by 3-5 years.
Private Equity was the Indian flavor du jour till 2008’s slowdown and VC was
predominantly a cross-border pool of capital. The only VC funds raised prior to us for a
decade (and not impact-oriented, sub - $100M size) was probably Accel Fund I (post
Erasmic acquisition), SeedFund (faded after Fund II), Ojas (prop fund of one of the Infy
founder family offices), and Inventus (hit about half its $100 mill target in Fund I).
Back to the Future: The world in 2011 vs Now
To jog your memory, in 2011 iPhone 4S was the best iPhone Apple had ever made, South Korean singer Psy’s viral hit Gangnam
Style had not yet been released, and the term ‘Unicorn’ did not exist yet in the startup world.
2011: When Fund I Investments Kicked-off 2023: Today
140,000% 6,000%
$30 0.02 Bn $43,000 1.3 Bn

Price of 1 Bitcoin Instagram users Price of 1 Bitcoin Instagram users
Global
95% 55% 900%
$5 53 91 Mn $0.15 82 930 Mn
Per GB Internet cost USD to INR Smartphone users India Per GB Internet cost USD to INR Smartphone users
750% 250% 150%
$3 Bn ~450 $6.7 Mn $26 Bn ~1,600 $16 Mn

Annual Investments Deal Count Avg. Deal Size Venture Annual Investments Deal Count Avg. Deal Size
Culture & Media
Sources: Yahoo Finance, Statista, Bain India Venture Capital Report 2022 & 2023 | Glossary 5
Fundraising
Pipeline & Portfolio

Blume Fund I
DECLASSIFIED
Performance
Winner Stories
600 different people or organisations pitched, 75% of them onshore (it’s very expensive to
pitch overseas and institutions couldn’t be interested in a first time manager). Conversion
ratio of 1 in 6. From Government entities to Corporates, HNWIs to Family Offices, Tech
Fundraising
Founders to Friends & Family, this was a hustle of a different order.
Grabbing the ‘highest passion to bare bones fixed compensation’ ratio folks to join the
team was the beginning of that Blume Fund I journey. More than half that team makes up
our leadership today. Happy to be wiring the carry from Fund I to each of their accounts
gradually over the last 2 years, with hopefully more to come as we fully wind down.
Fundraising
Flashback: A VC’s Pitch Deck

Here's a glimpse of what our pitch terms to LPs looked like (back when $1 was ~ INR 50 Rupees)
Fund I Terms (2011) Fund IA Terms (2013)
BONUS 1: Click HERE to visit our original LP Fundraising Decks
Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data | Glossary 8

Fundraising
Flashback: Making a Case for Blume‘s early strategy

‘Institutionalization of pre-Series A rounds” and taking a “Platform approach to venture”, were our key propositions in 2010-11
Fund Strategy & Focus Platform Strategy Proposal
BONUS 2: Click HERE to visit the original pitch decks from a select few portfolio companies.

Fundraising
Blume Fund I, and her lesser known siblings…

Fund I, with its 100%-Indian roots, sprouted into a pot of ₹98 Cr and marked the start of our investment journey.
Main Funds (India-domiciled) SPVs (International-domiciled)
₹98 Crore
($19.5 Million) $2.28 Million $8.78 Million
- Core Fund - Top-up Investments in - Top-up Investments in Two Continuity
Select I and IA Portfolio Turtlemint & GreyOrange Funds (a
combination of
secondary and
follow-on/reserve
Fund I Fund IA SPV 3 SPV’s strategy into ~10
2011 companies of
2013 2014 2015 - 2021 Fund I + IA)
continue the life of
these investments
with us for another
₹24.5 Crore 5-6 years (starting
($4.1 Million) 2021)
- Extension to Fund I
and a select set of 5
new Investments
Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data | Glossary | At then exchange rate, USD: INR = ~50 for Fund I, ~60 for Fund IA 10
Fundraising
Source of funds: Who were our LPs

After a whirlwind pitching journey of 600+ HNI’s, Corporates and Institutions (& many repeat meetings), we landed commitments from
about 80 LPs for Fund I + IA (SPVs added another ~40) –> ending with over half of the fund’s capital coming from referrals & networks.
80% of our total

10% pitches were in India,
~500 Prospective LPs Pitched 90% rest were in US, UK,
(Fund I + IA) Singapore, Dubai and
HK.
We ended up with
Fund I & IA being
~80 LPs Invested 100% Indian
93% 7%
(Fund I + IA) ~1 out of every 6 LP’s However, for SPV’s,
we pitched, ended up our LPs were
overseas
Investing in Fund I + IA
Cold
Referrals Wealth Managers Friends & Family Office LPs
Fund I LP Base by Count (12%) GP Network (44%) (28%) Family (15%)
Outbound
(1%)
Wealth Managers Friends & Cold

Fund I LP Base by Amount Referrals (30%) GP Network (30%) (20%) Family (16%) Outbound
(INR %) (4%)
Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data | Note: GP or “General Partner” is a Blume Founding Partner here | Glossary 11
Fundraising
Source of funds: Double click on Domestic LPs

Unlike our more recent funds, only 30% of Fund I’s capital came from Institutional LPs – with two Government / Public Investor’s, TDB and
SIDBI – contributing to 70% of that institutional base (and ~20% of the entire Fund I corpus).
LPs by Count (~80 LPs) LPs by Amount (INR ~120 Cr)
Avg Cheq. Size of

Asset Manager (5%) 1.5 Cr all LPs
Corporate Investors
(11%)
Avg Cheq. Size of
Family Offices
Institutional LPs
(14%) 6.0 Cr Institutional LPs
(Range: 1 - 20 Cr)
(7% of the total LP
base) contributed Avg Cheq. Size of
~30% of capital
1.1 Cr HNI/Retail LPs
(Range: 0.1 - 5 Cr)
Government Capital
(70%)
Over 25% of Fund IA corpus

was contributed by Fund I
LPs who had already written
us cheques in 2010
These common LPs,
Institutional LPs increased their cheque size
by ~20% on an average from
Fund I to IA
Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data | Note: Blume GP count and contribution to the fund(s) has been excluded | Glossary 12
Fundraising
The OG Team
Presenting the six original believers in the Blume vision, with four of them continuing with Blume as partners.
Karthik B Reddy Sanjay Nath Ashish Fafadia Adit Parekh Sajid Fazalbhoy Arpit Agarwal
Fund I Role Co-founder (2010) Co-founder (2010) CFO (2012) Principal (2011) Principal (2012) Principal (2014)
Current Role
Founding Partner Founding Partner Partner Director Partner Partner
Educational PGP
MBA
Background
MBA CA CS B.Sc MBA BBA B.Tech MBA
B.Tech
BE (Hons)
Amedeo
Pre-Blume Software
Work Ex
Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Linkedin 13

Fundraising
Blume Fund I
DECLASSIFIED
Performance
Winner Stories
● How different was the ecosystem back in 2010-11?
● Where did founders come from when there were zero unicorns? (The word was
not even coined until 2013!!)
● What were their aspirations with starting valuations between $1 and $3 mill (at a
$/INR of 50) and exits of any kind seemed imaginary?
Pipeline &
● What prompted Blume’s portfolio construction in that era?
What did the ecosystem deliver for early stage startups beyond a handful of
Portfolio
half-hearted angel networks and their capital? What was required to build a world-class
support ecosystem? It’s silly to compare ourselves to larger capital and support bases
that the valley had or even has today. We are growing into the same stature rapidly but
outcomes and the sizes of those outcomes govern the speed and quality eventually.
The section aims to uncover a bunch of these questions and explain how and why
Blume thinking evolved the way it did over a decade ago.
Where did we source our deals from?

Though we were a first-time fund manager, the partners had built out a strong network in the venture ecosystem during their Angel years.
99% of our deals (as a Seed Investor) came through a Referral or a Network, i.e. your deal has a
much higher chance of funding if it comes via a Trusted 1st degree connection to the firm.
“Network Associations” “Referrers”

Others
1%
43%
43% Deal sources
56%
56%
Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data 16

Top 5 Reasons why we passed on a deal

“Anti-Portfolio” are met-but-passed/missed deals that were in our “sweet spot” w.r.t cheque size &/or Founder-Blume Fit &/or Thesis match
1
Fund I and IA were painfully long
Fund Shortage / in
raises and we would be constantly
between Closings short of capital
2
We did not have depth, confidence
Negative bias on and/or have been “burnt” by past
thesis experiences in that sub-sector / Model
3 Had existing portfolio that was

Competing Portfolio
competing in that space — eventually
(when the pitch was discovered that these were false alarms
made) and should be disregarded sometimes
4 We were capped at $250K (1.25cr back

Large rounds taken then) and founders would rather focus on
by a strong lead funds that could write them a much
larger cheque
5 The startup was domiciled overseas or

Domicile or raising via Converts (We were limited
instrument didn’t by SEBI rules on overseas cos and we
work didn’t play unpriced syndicates)
Unicorn Status Listed on Nasdaq

Educational Background of our Fund I founders

It may surprise some, but 7 out of 10 founders in Fund I hold Postgraduate / Masters degrees.
By Degree Type
By Geography UG PG
Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn, LinkedIn 18

Undergrad Majors of Fund I founders

Four random Fund I founders walk into a bar: one has a Computer Science degree, two have Engineering degrees (non CS), and
one had a Commerce/Arts undergraduate degree. Of course, what they ordered remains a mystery.
UG Engineering Split
1 out of 3 founders with an undergrad tech

3 out of 4 founders in our cohort are engineers,
degree, had pursued a computer science
and 6 out of 7 are STEM graduates
major

Does Pedigree matter?

Despite us having no strong preference for institutional pedigree when investing, it's an interesting coincidence that (almost) all of our
gross returns came from co’s where at least one founder attended a Tier-1 Tech Institution. Could be Series A/B bias? Something else?
Investment Portfolio Performance Post-Graduation
14 out of these 27
15 out of 17 of our companies had Tier-1
top-performing UG Tech Founders who
companies had at least 13.1x also went on to pursue a
one founder from a Tier-1 Postgraduate (MBA +
UG Engineering Institution Gross Return* Masters) at a Top
on Invested
Institution
Capital
These 14 companies
alone account for 72%
of our Gross returns at
an 18.1x multiple
Only 35% of the companies we invested 94% of our gross returns* came from
in had at least one founder from Tier-1 UG companies who had at least one founder
Engg. Institution (IIT/BITS/NIT) from a Tier-1 UG Engg. institution
Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn, LinkedIn | *Gross Returns are inclusive of gross realised and gross unrealised returns 20
Different strokes for different folks

Contrary to the popular myth of founders being college dropouts, it is clear that there is enough to learn from those “corporate”
careers too - over half of Fund I's founders had dipped their toes in professional employment for ~6 years and above.
No experience and dropouts are a romantic notion, over ~80% of our Founders had built expertise across
50% of founders backed have greater than 6 years of Software & IT, Operations, and Sales &
experience Marketing functions

Once a founder, always often becomes a repeat founder

Following their exits, six out of ten Fund I founders chose to leap back into entrepreneurship over professional employment
Why did Founders exit in the

first place? What did our founders exit to?

Birth of the “Blume Mafia”

We are seeing green shoots of an up and coming Blume Maﬁa, as Fund I's alumni founders relaunch startups or fuel other ventures
through their own funds and & accelerators
Exited
Founders
(next pursuits)
More than half of those employed, Blume has backed ~50% of

are in top management roles at these VC-backed startups again
Global / Indian Multinationals via our subsequent funds
3 of our founders have

started their own Micro-VC
funds or accelerators

How long did it take for Co’s to raise their 1st Round from us?
Not much actually. Over 40% of Fund I cos raised their round from Blume within 1 year of their company founding, and over 60%
raised within 2 yrs
VC was not easily available in the

2008-14 era – one had to build to
Venture-ready scale with very little
Angel capital
Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn, LinkedIn | *This list is inclusive of any reconstructions or pivots of our port-co’s from their initial forms 24
Portfolio Construction of Fund I: Domestic vs Global opportunity

We've consistently believed in a portfolio mix of roughly 60% India-focused and 40% global, striking a balance between domestic and
worldwide opportunities.
Fund I Fund IV
(2011) (2021)
10 YEARS LATER..
…of investing in an approx
60:40 ratio between the
India Domestic growth story
and India Tech building for
the world
International Software and Enterprise Tech
Domestic Consumer and SMB

The Series A “Valley of Death” was very deep pre-2015

Only ~40% of our Fund I companies moved to Series A, with an average of 2 years wait for the next round of funding
What happened to those Co’s. that

did not move to Series A?
7%
60%
Number of Companies
78
29
17
11 10
Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn, LinkedIn | Glossary 26

Creating Impact through Venture

Our top portfolio companies are generating not just returns, but also on-ground socio-economic impact.
Economic Impact of the Top

20% of our Portfolio
7,800 Crores
CC does designing, building, Exotel, the developer of The online marketplace GreyOrange partnered with
(~$0.93 Billion*) cloud voice APIs, has been
financing and operating offering pre-used gadgets TYCIA and Yatan to
Added to the Economy via leading a CSR initiative
industrial carbon capture and accessories (hence establish Pathshala
Fund-raising called ExoCares.
systems. reducing India’s e-waste) centers in Delhi, to bring
regularly runs the ‘Reuse students to their
23,000 Crores As of November 2023, CCS In 2022, Exotel partnered
with Diya Ghar, an NGO
with Cashify’ for
donation of pre-loved
age-appropriate learning
has captured over 2 million levels and admit them into
(~$2.75 Billion*) Metric Tonnes of Co2. Its with 17 branches in books, utensils, shoes, government schools. It
Added to Private Market energy-efficient CDRMax Bangalore to sponsor etc. for low income offers classes, activities,
Valuations process can achieve 90%+ nutritious food and families. and development sessions.
capture rates and delivers education for migrant Students compose of 47%
industrial quality CO2 for laborers’ children. In 2020, it also unveiled a girls and 53% boys. From
Over 10,000 re-use or sequestration. ‘Donate for Education’ the total students at the
Jobs Created to provides refurbished School, 20% were
smartphones to students. enrolled into mainstream
schools in 2022.
75 Crores
(~$9 Mn*)
Appx. Taxpayer money already
generated in Gross returns to
Public/Government Investors
(~3x of their investment)..with
more to come
Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn | *As per September 2023 exchange rate 27
Platform services took a life of their own

Starting off as Intros made for Talent & Capital, Platform services have grown to a strong Inhouse division + 2 Independent
Spin-off’s.
Metamorph (erstwhile Constellation
Every VC firm starts with leveraging the Talent and Passion Connect) -
GP’s Network for Portfolio.. started with 2 employees as a deep
We promised “Capital introductions to need expressed by portfolio - now
VCs, Exit options through M&A, they’re 30+ across 4 cities
2013
Revenue opportunity introductions”
2011 2015
Experimented with spinning of Back then, Constellation Blu was just 3

people inside Blume office, today they
“Constellation Blu” as a Shared
are 50+ across 3 cities and largely
Services Firm for financial and independent with 40% of revenue not
legal uses for Portfolio. related to Blume / portcos
Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data | Glossary 28

Fundraising
Blume Fund I
DECLASSIFIED
Performance
Winner Stories
It’s time we began celebrating the wins! Entrepreneur journeys that end with great
success. Whether it’s a small acquisition or listing sometimes, or whether they become
profitable, or whether they have a marquee public listing or a grand M&A, Venture Capital
Performance
success is but a humble derivative of these entrepreneurial success stories. Without the
founders and the companies winning big, the VCs can’t win big.
To deconstruct how that plays out for a particular vintage Fund is important to understand.
What we begin by showcasing our Blume Fund I (& Fund IA) + India Quotient Fund I, as a
guest feature, is what we hope to showcase in all future editions - to educate other
emerging VCs, celebrate and cherish the craft of the VC business.
Performance
*All figures are in INR Crores
Fund I: Aggregate Performance*

Fund I + IA has already realised ~5x of the invested capital so far, and is projected to close at ~6x gross by full exit by early 2024
5.7x = 4.8x + 0.9x

Gross Total Gross Realised Gross Unrealised
Returns Returns Returns
Fund I
Fund I A
5.4x = 4.6x + 0.8x 7.0x = 5.8x + 1.2x

Source: BV Internal Data | Unrealised Value excludes cash balance & FX gain/loss | *Performance Section Includes only Fund I & IA, not SPVs and Continuity/ Opportunity
Funds | Above values may include some ongoing transactions* | Gross Realised Returns are net of (excluding) fees, but gross of (including) Taxes and Carry. Glossary 31
Performance
Fund I: Performance by Geography

Against conventional wisdom, our investments in Delhi-NCR companies yielded the most substantial multiples vs all the other cities.
2.4x 0.5x
Delhi 14.9x Mumbai 5.8x Bengaluru
NCR Others
15% of Portfolio (12 Co’s) 33% of Portfolio (26 Co’s) 41% of Portfolio (32 Co’s) 11% of Portfolio (8 Co’s)
Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data 32

Performance
Fund I: Performance by Vintage

Our 2015 investments, which were into just 2 companies (Cashify & Turtlemint) have delivered the highest multiple for a given vintage
7.4x 7.0x 1.7x 5.3x 15.6x
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
23% of Portfolio 34% of Portfolio 36% of Portfolio 4% of Portfolio 3% of Portfolio

(18 Co’s) (27 Co’s) (29 Co’s) (3 Co’s) (2 Co’s)

Performance
Fund I: Performance by Deal Strategy (Lead vs Syndicate)

While the number of deals were roughly 50:50 between being a lead/co-lead investor*, and as a part of a syndicate*, our
investments as lead investors out-performed those made as syndicate investors by nearly 2x the multiple.
Lead / Co-Lead Strategy Syndicate Strategy
6.4x 4.6x
47% of Portfolio (37 Co’s) 53% of Portfolio (41 Co’s)
Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data | Lead/Co-lead: 45-100% contribution of the round we participated in, Syndicate: Always less than 33% of the round | Glossary 34
Performance
Fund I: Performance by Type of Exit

Organic Returns via Secondaries & Public Markets IPO were far higher in multiples than any other mode of exit.
Secondary/Public Sale Sale to Continuity Fund Mergers & Acquisitions Write-Off

Realised Returns (549 Cr)
30.9x 13.5x 2.6x 0.0x
Partial Exit
Full Exit
Unrealised Returns
8% of Exits (5 Co’s) 12% of Exits (7 Co’s) 30% of Exits (18 Co’s) 50% (30 Co’s)

Performance
Fund I: Performance by Sector

Our investments in Software & Technology outperformed those in other sectors by nearly 3x.
Software & Enterprise Technology Domestic Consumer & SMB
The outsized
performance of the
9.9x 3.2x Software and Enterprise
Tech Sector are primarily
driven by 3 Outlier Co’s
(Grey Orange, Carbon
Clean and E2E)
These Co’s collectively

account for just ~15% of
the total investment
made into the sector, but
have contributed to ~75%
of its total gross
returns*
35% of Portfolio (27 Co’s) 65% of Portfolio (51 Co’s)

Performance
“Pareto Principle” was brutally at work in Fund I

Where the top ~20% of our portfolio co’s generated 80% ~98% of our gross total returns*!
Invested: INR 114 Crores Gross Total Returns*: INR 651 crores
5.7x
Return on Invested
Capital for entire Fund I#
+20..
+20..
16.5x
Avg. Return on Invested
Total Investment (78 companies)
Capital for Top 20%
20% of Investment (17 companies)
Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data | *Returns are inclusive of gross realised and gross unrealised returns | #Fund I here implies both Fund I and Fund IA 37
Performance
A Double-click into our top Outliers (Pareto within Pareto?)

... and even amongst the top 20%, the top 3 made roughly thrice of the entire fund
150%
75%
50%
40%
35%
30%
18%
15%
Just the Top 3 companies together have:
● Realized 2.7x of the Total Fund
Investment 8%
● ~50% of entire fund returns*
Total Fund I + IA Investment: ~114 Cr % of Fund I returned* by PortCo.

Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data | *Returns are inclusive of realised and unrealised returns | Glossary 38
Performance
Fund I Portfolio - but in Multiples of Returns

Power Law in venture exists, and how 65% of companies returned less than or none of the capital invested, 20% of companies returned 1x
to 10x, and 10 companies returned more than 10X (with just 4 companies of those returning more than 20x).
0x Return 5-10x Return

34 co’s (50%) 3 co’s (5%)
0.1-1x Return 1-2x Return 10-20x Return >20x Return

9 co’s (15%) 7 co’s (10%) 6 co’s (9%) 4 co’s (6%)
2-5x Return
3 co’s (5%)
Exited via Internal Sale to Continuity Fund

+06.. Partially exited via External Sale from Fund I
>10x gross
Positioned to unrealised
exit in 2024 returns

Performance
We thought winning meant being a feeder to “India Series A”…

Most of Venture Craft in Blume’s evolution; building, against all odds,was learnt without any support from the local A ecosystem
OG Series A Players (2010-15) OG Series A Players (2010-15)
ZERO PARTICIPATION
from those on the left towards Series A & B Rounds.
(Now Peak XV) (Now Chiratae) (Now Elevation)

(Now Kalaari)
Invested in Blume-Built, engineered against the odds*

** **
** **
< 30% of Top Portfolio Cohort ** ** **

The above ~1/3rd segment of portfolio winners contributed 22%
(140 Cr) of aggregate top portfolio returns, while the other ~2/3rd
(on the right) contributed 78% (495 Cr) > 70% of Top Portfolio Cohort
Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data, * Purplle had a Sequoia participation but post Series C, ** These companies had NO Indian VC on the cap table until the Exit from Fund I 40
Performance
To “Double Down” or not?

The famed reserve ratio at work, key learnings here were to continue reserving even more for follow-on as the true risk gets further
diluted at Series B/C stages - this led to our creation of Opportunity funds and higher reserve ratios in Funds II, III and IV.
Fund I+IA
Invested Seed Funding Reserve Funding Seed Reserve

Capital ~55 Cr ~55 Cr ~4 Cr ~18 Cr
~114 Cr
Fund I Fund IA
Fund I Fund I + IA
60:40 52:48
Reserve Ratio Reserve Ratio
0.7 Cr
0.7 Cr Seed Cheque Size
Seed Cheque Size
1.1 Cr
0.8 Cr Reserve Cheque Size
Reserve Cheque. Size
Source: BV Internal Data | Glossary | * Reserve Ratio = Seed Capital : Follow-on (reserves) Capital, where reserves are additional capital in further round pro-rata allocations 41
Performance
What do Reserves do? Are the multiples worth the effort?

There are funds which choose to have large, small or no reserves - basis their strategy of exits, timelines, fund size etc. While there
is never a perfect answer, Blume has traded up along the theory that Reserve Risk/Reward is well worth the effort.
PortCo Seed Reserve 1 Reserve 2 PortCo Seed Reserve 1 Reserve 2
Exited via M&A Exited to Continuity Funds
12.7x 3.5x - 35.7x 15.3x 5.0x
25.6x 9.3x 4.2x 45.7x 19.3x 14.2x
5.6x 5.0x 1.3x 6.1x 1.9x 1.3x
9.6x 4.1x 2.8x 10.5x 17.8x 2.4x
Exited via Secondary or Public Sale 34.2x 16.9x 6.8x
55.1x 21.4x 10.1x 19.9x 8.7x 5.8x
54.9x 32.1x - 19.9x - -
* 66.0x - - Note: Grey Orange Robotics and Intrcity are excluded as they haven’t been fully exited
Fund I Fund IA Fund I and Fund IA combined

12.7x - -
Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data | Glossary | *CCS has been exited via a blend of secondary sale and sale to continuity fund 42
Performance
We’ve got them moves like Jagger!

Just a playful variant of seeing all the seed multipliers dip as the reserve checks (Follow-on’s) kick in. Clearly, undervalued Series
As in your portfolio can create amazing multipliers.
Blended Total Multipliers for Top 20% of our Portfolio
26.3x 10.6x 3.9x

Seed Cheq Multiplier Reserve Cheq #1 Multiplier Reserve Cheq #2 Multiplier
5x

Performance
The Fund I (Main fund) J Curve

Majority of Fund I returns came just in the last 3 years.
BLUME VENTURES FUND I

Legend: [2011-12 Vintage / Chart beginning from 1 year post commencement of the fund]
1. Multiple on
Invested Capital
(MOIC) Line
R
2. Cumulative Fund Gross Realised Returns as of Dec 2023: E
Cash Flow Multiple ~418 Crores | 4.6x Gross of Fund I S
Line Invested Capital I
3. Exit Value Multiple D
Area Chart Gross Total Returns as of Dec 2023: U
~494 Crores | 5.4x Gross of Fund I A
L
Invested Capital
Multiples
V
G A
L
U
E Residual Value (MTM)
F Left in Fund I as of
Dec 2023:
~76 Crores | 0.8x of
Total Fund I Invested Fund I Invested Capital
Capital [2011]: E
~92 Crores
D
A
C Gross Total Value of Fund IA as of Dec ‘23 (Not in Chart above)
B ~157 Crores | 7.1x Gross of Fund IA Invested Capital
Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data | Does NOT Include Fund IA | Unrealised Value excludes cash balance & FX gain/losses | Glossary 44
Performance
The Fund I J Curve

Key for
Year Event
Chart
2011 - Officially Launched Blume Fund I.
2014 [A] - Officially Launched Fund IA + SPVs in succession
Fund I begins to Exit / start's generating DPI from some early successes (all through acquisitions): TaxiforSure (acquired
2015 [B]
by OLA), Promptec (acquired by Havells), Zipdial (acquired by Twitter) etc.
Exits from Investments - E2E Networks exited publicly on SME Emerge (First Exit via SMB IPO), Exit from Mettl (acquired
2018 [C]
by Mercer), Sold Ola Stock (acquired as part of Taxiforsure swap) to Temasek
2019 [D] Exits from Investments - Exit from Nowfloats (acquired by Reliance), Exit from Threadsol (acquired by Coats UK)
Launched Fund 1X (INR 380Cr corpus) as a secondary fund to buyout 6 leading positions from Fund I and IA (Grey
Orange, Turtlemint, Purplle, Webengage, Idfy, Exotel). Raised as an INR fund from HNW LPs with a 5+1+1 year term.
2021 [E]
Fund 1X is a “GP-Managed” Secondary Fund, wherein we got over 90% approval to sell the assets, rotated out willing
LP's from 1 to 1X and gave exits to all LPs who did not want to reinvest.
Launched Fund 1Y (in progress, currently closed ~INR 200Cr, target ~INR400Cr) to purchase mature, residual assets in
Fund I and IA as well as invest in Growth rounds of Fund I/IA companies.
2022 [F]
- Residual distribution from partial exit from GreyOrange ( via secondary to 1X), Exit from Zopper to 1Y Growth Fund, Partial
Exit from Carbon Clean (Secondary Sale)
Exits from Investments - Complete exit from Mobstac (Secondary Sale), Infollion exited publicly on SME Exchange,
2023 [G]
Zopper sold to Continuity 1Y, Carbon Clean Solutions position sold to both a Secondary Investor and Fund 1Y

Performance
Guest Feature: India Quotient Fund I
Name of Fund India Quotient Fund 1

Legend:
Vintage 2013 1. Multiple on Invested Capital (MOIC) Line
Fund Lifecycle 9 years (including 2 extensions) 2. Cumulative Fund Cash Flow Multiple Line
Corpus INR 31.87 Cr 3. Exit Value Multiple Area Chart
Investment Focus Consumer, Fintech, Content

Domicile India
Gross Realisations (in INR) as E
of 2022:
~226 Crores | 7.1x of Fund
Multiples
Circa 2012
Anand and Madhukar have been dealing

with investors and founders parachuted
from US, who just don't get India. Anand
books www.indiaquotient.in to write a
blog
As his personal picks Inkfruit and Rebel Total Invested Capital:

Foods take off, Anand decides to step out ~26 Crores
from his previous fund. Madhukar
meanwhile decides that tech has more
D
impact than an 'Impact Fund'. They
warehouse a few deals and set off to raise A
a small experimental corpus. The plan is B C
20 deals with ~10% ownership @150K
each…
Sources: India Quotient Provided Data & Narrative 46

Performance
Guest Feature: India Quotient Fund I

Year Key for Chart Event
India Quotient sets up rent-free in PayTM office, and spend early years brainstorming with VSS about Indian Internet. Start
2013 [A]
looking for founders who really get India.
2014 As the Govt changes in India and Investors taste early success from Flipkart, early stage VC takes off. IQ portfolio is ready.
Roposo raised capital from Tiger Global, Lendingkart raised Series A from Mayfield (few months after its seed round),
2015 Grabhouse raised Series A led by Sequoia & Kalaari Capital. Many raise follow on rounds, but Lesson 1: Solve for the fund
size of the Series B/C investor, not your own. With this insight, Fund 2 is launched, this time $20M
Times get tough as a public market meltdown hits the world. Lesson 2: Plan for pro-rata and bridge rounds. Fund exited
2016 [B]
Teewee, Belita & Momoe. Bertelsmann lead Series B in Lendingkart, Roposo raises Series B.
NAVs & IRRs drop through a tough period and no winners in sight. However, one co.(Sugar Cosmetics) where the partners
2017
give personal money to bail out & invite an LP to lead Series A is doing well.Lesson 3: Don't give up till the founder gives up
Lendingkart raised Series C from Fullerton. Fund took a part exit in Lendingkart. Since one founder is Anand's younger
2018
brother, the fund has taken only 2% equity. Lesson 4: Investments with Small ownerships may be your only winners!!
Fund exited IIMJobs to Naukri. Category winners hopefully won't be small outcomes in next decade. Lendingkart raised
2019 [C]
Series D from Fullerton, A91 Partners lead Series B in Sugar Cosmetics.
Covid hits and now it's clear that Sugar, Lendingkart, 91mobiles will pull it through. Bred in paucity of capital, they actually
2020
gain market share from others in Covid turbulence. Lesson 5: Anti Fragile is a function of dearth of capital in early years
Sugar Cosmetics raised Series C from Elevation Capital with existing investors participating. Fund took a part exit, as covid
2021 [D]
is still not over.
Sugar Cosmetics raises from L Catterton and the fund takes a part exit. The rest is sold to newer HNIs. Lendingkart is sold to
2022 [E]
another investor and 91mobiles does a buyback. Fund wound up at 7.1X gross/5.9X net with a life of 9 years end to end.
47
Source: India Quotient Provided Data & Narrative
Fundraising
Blume Fund I
DECLASSIFIED
Performance
Winner Stories
The deck wouldn’t be complete with a call out to the serendipitous nature of how
matchmaking occurs. How do the best founders and best VCs converge into scripting and
editing the best stories?
Winner
Have you all wondered how many network elements it takes to find an investment, like it, and
then get past the marriage line? We have given a glimpse into that history.
Stories But we also celebrated the not-so-straight line of the journey that takes each of these
companies through years of tough stretches before the calmness of steady, sustainable and
profitable growth. We have M&As, small IPOs, large breakouts (a lot of which were moved to
Continuity Funds) all presented amongst the 15+ winners that made a significant impact to
Fund I. And there is still an element of Shahrukh Khan’s “Picture abhi bakhi hain mere
dost” (loosely translates to “The best part of the story is still yet to come, my friend”).
Exited to Continuity fund Exited via M&A Exited via Public Sale Exited via Secondary Sale Active Holdings
Exited to Continuity Fund
50
Winner Stories
From Baldor, the Nordic God, verifying identity across all

applications now

Winner Stories
IDfy’s Journey
Valuation expected to double
to ~1000 Cr after new
round-in-progress soon
Jio Haptik-IDfy tie up on

Series A: Invested 0.6Cr for a WhatsApp KYC solution
9.5% stake at 5.7Cr valuation IDfy is enabling investors'
digital onboarding at
HDFC Securities
Series C: Invested 0.3Cr at

50Cr valuation (Fund IA)
Partners with Visa for
video KYC of
Exited from Fund 1+1A, but

story continues via a C/O
credit-card holders
Series B: Invested 0.6Cr at

8Cr valuation Series D: Raised at
110Cr valuation
Fund*
, Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn | *Continuity / Opportunity Fund | Glossary 52
Winner Stories
Adit finds solid Mumbai founders, even helps them

incorporate via Constellation Blu

Winner Stories
Turtlemint Journey
Series E: Invested 15Cr
at 6519Cr valuation
Exited from Fund 1+1A, but story continues via a C/O

Acquires data science startup
IO Physics Systems
Fund*
141Cr valuation (Fund IA)
Series D: Invested 3.7Cr
at 1162Cr valuation
Seed: Invested 0.6Cr for a 5.4% stake Series C: Invested

at 11.4Cr valuation 6.7Cr at 369Cr valuation
Series A: Invested 1.8Cr at 37.8Cr valuation
, Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn | *Continuity / Opportunity Fund | Glossary 54
Winner Stories
After months of “tough to get”, finally snagged on a TV

show!
Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Exotel First touch with Blume / Exotel Pitch Playout at Super Angels Grand Finale 55
Winner Stories
Exotel’s Journey Launches Generative AI Chatbot

Builder Powered by GPT-4
Series D: Invested 1Cr at

2766Cr valuation (**)
Exited from Fund 1+1A, but story continues via C/O

Series A: Invested 0.6Cr for a
8.1% stake at 7.4Cr valuation
Series C: Invested 16Cr at 1304Cr valuation (**)
Acquires to become the Emerging Market’s First
Fund
AI-powered Cloud Customer Engagement Platform
Exotel and Ameyo announce merger
API platform expands

to South-East Asia Series B: Raised
at 205Cr valuation
, Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn | ** Invested via Continuity / Opportunity (C/O) Fund | Glossary 56
Winner Stories
First Touch - Rajan introduces us to Webengage

Winner Stories
A second touch - Webengage - and even then, took a

secondary to get this off the ground

Winner Stories
WebEngage’s Journey
Partners with IKEA Saudi and
Bahrain, and Akasa Air to
enhance customer engagement
Series B: Raised 160Cr at a valuation of 703Cr
Exited from Fund 1+1A, but story continues via a C/O Fund*
WebEngage's new age Retention Operating System
becomes a gamechanger for Fintech and BFSI
Series A: Raised at a valuation of 160Cr valuation

Invested 1Cr for a 6%
in a Internal Round WebEngage Launches Six-Month Accelerator
Program For B2C Startups
Social Capital Backs WebEngage

Through Its CaaS Platform
Winner Stories
We found a Brandandme, turned Reviews42….
60
Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data
Winner Stories
Zopper’s Journey
Series C: Invested 13.6Cr
at a 858Cr valuation
Exited from Fund 1+1A, but story continues via a C / O

PhonePe bought the
point-of-sale (PoS)
Pre Series A: Invested business of Zopper
0.25Cr for a 8.12%
stake at a 2.85Cr Launches Zopper Assure:
valuation India’s 1st 0 documentation &
paperless extended warranty
Series A:
Invested 0.8Cr at Series B:
Fund*
a 15Cr valuation Raised at a
valuation
of 309Cr
Series B:
Raised at a
valuation of
90Cr
Winner Stories
An initial NO, lots of intros, Manish comes back in 2013,

and finally we shake hands 🤝

Winner Stories
Purplle’s Journey
Series E: Invested
8.9Cr at a 8,670Cr or a
$1 Billion + valuation
(**)
Exited from Fund 1+1A, but story continues via a C / O Fund

Series D: Invested 10.6Cr at
Acquired FacesCanada and started
private label ‘Good Vibes’
Seed: Invested 1Cr

for a 7.3% stake at
11.7Cr Valuation. Series C: Reached valuation
of 1085 Cr (with investment
from Goldman Sachs)
Series A:
Invested 0.2Cr at
32Cr valuation Series B: Invested
2.5Cr at 307Cr
valuation (**)
Hit 1 million users
Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn | ** Invested via Continuity / Opportunity (C/O) Fund | Glossary 63
Winner Stories
Passionate recyclers focus on Electronics recycling at

source, and won over Arpit

Winner Stories
Cashify’s Journey
Series E: Invested 13.4Cr at

Series C: Raised at
281Cr valuation Series D: Raised at
281Cr valuation

103Cr valuation (Fund IA) Cashify acquihires
hyperlocal gadget repairing
platform Teksolvr
Series A: Invested 0.4Cr at 49Cr valuation (Fund IA)
Cashify Aquihires Bangalore based MobiBing
Seed: Invested 1.5Cr for a

8.6% stake at 17.4Cr
valuation (Fund IA)
Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn | **Invested via Continuity / Opportunity (C/O) Fund | Glossary 65
Exited via M&A
66
Winner Stories
Sometimes, the better biz just gets caught in Funding battles
67
Winner Stories
TaxiForSure’s Journey
Series C: Raised at a valuation of 416Cr
TaxiForSure NanoCabs launched in Bengaluru
Acquired by Ola
Series A: Invested 0.7Cr at a
56.8Cr valuation
Series B: Invested 0.7Cr
Seed: Invested 0.24Cr

for a 1.97% stake at a
12.7Cr valuation
Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn 68

Winner Stories
First of the Cleantech bets in 2010-11, energy saving

lighting
69
Winner Stories
Promptec’s Journey
Series A: Invested 0.4Cr

9Cr valuation
Series B Extension:
Invested 1.5Cr at a 20Cr
valuation

at a 11Cr valuation
Acquired by Havells
Winner Stories
Zipdial: Pre Blume first close, referred to Mumbai Angels

Winner Stories
ZipDial’s Journey
Acquired by Twitter
Series A: Invested 0.5Cr at a 60Cr
Seed Round Extension: valuation
Invested 12.5Cr at a
36Cr valuation Facebook partners with Zipdial to
test out 'Missed Call' ads in India
12.2Cr valuation

Winner Stories
Induslynk reference from inMobi founder

Winner Stories
Mettl’s Journey
CEO Honored With Economic

Times 40 Under 40
Entrepreneurship Award
Acquired by Mercer for INR 250cr

Series A: Invested 1.9Cr
at a valuation of 11Cr Wins the prestigious
TiE50 Award

valuation of 11Cr
2018

Exited via Public Sale
75
Winner Stories
One of our lowest ever entry points, and amongst first

investments
76
Winner Stories
E2E Network’s Journey ₹640
PPS ~₹175
Fully exited from Fund 1+1A in 2023

PPS ~₹57
Sold at IPO on a
valuation of 75Cr
Partially exited from

Bridge: Invested 0.5Cr at
Fund 1+1A on IPO

a valuation of 13.75Cr
Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn | Price Tracking Cut-off is as of Mid-December 2023 | PPS - Price per Share 77
Winner Stories
Wrote 1 cheque and done; straight to an SMB IPO
78
Winner Stories
Infollion’s Journey
₹246
PPS ~₹180
Fully exited from Fund 1+1A in 2023

PPS ~₹80
Sold at IPO on a
valuation of 79Cr
Seed: Invested 0.8Cr for a
10.52% stake at a valuation of
Partially exited from

Fund 1+1A on IPO
7.6Cr
June ‘23
Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn | Price Tracking Cut-off is as of Mid-December 2023 | PPS - Price per Share 79
Exited via Secondary Sale
80
Winner Stories
The 2 Chemical Brothers who want to save the planet, built

with grants for better part of a decade (1)

Winner Stories
The 2 Chemical Brothers who want to save the planet, built

with grants for better part of a decade (2)

Winner Stories
Carbon Clean (Solutions’) Journey

Series C: Raised at 4852Cr valuation
Aniruddha Sharma won Entrepreneur of the
Partially exited from Fund 1+1A, but story continues via

Year
Recognized among the top

Seed: Invested 1.25Cr for a 50 UK innovators by
8.98% stake at 14Cr valuation BusinessGreen
Launches world’s smallest

industrial carbon capture
technology CycloneCC
a C/O Fund*
Received $3 million
grant from the
Series B: Raised
Received $3 million grant from the
at 336Cr valuation
Series A: Raised at 146Cr

valuation
Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn | *Continuity / Opportunity Fund | Glossary 83
Winner Stories
BITS(P), GSF - many connects to the young stars at

Mobstac, finally met on the steps of an Unpluggd event

Winner Stories
Mobstac (Beaconstac’s) Journey
Seed Round: Raised at Series A: Raised at 1155Cr

valuation of 7.7Cr valuation
Fully exited Fund 1+1A in July 2023

Secondary: Blume purchased
from Mumbai Angels for 0.2Cr at
a 7.7Cr valuation
Seed Round extension:
Raised at 104.8Cr
Seed Round extenstion: valuation
Invested 0.76Cr at a 30 Cr
valuation
Seed Round extenstion:

Invested 0.25Cr at a
53.3Cr valuation

Active Holdings
86
Winner Stories
The Bot Boys from BITS Pilani
87
Winner Stories
GreyOrange’s Journey
Series C: Invested 36Cr at a 2973Cr
valuation (Fund IIA) Won the 2022 Global Autonomous
Mobile Robot (AMR) Market Analysis
Opened HQ in Atlanta, USA
Aakash Gupta
Moved HQ to Roswell, USA announced as new CEO
Samay Kohli was in the

global list of 2016 MIT
Innovators under 35
Partially exited from Fund 1+1A to

Series B: Invested 21Cr
continuity Fund*
Series A: Invested
1.67Cr at a 142Cr
valuation
Seed: Invested 1Cr

12.17Cr valuation
Winner Stories
RailYatri introduced by a pre seed investor from the

Valley! Took 2 yrs to take our cheque

Winner Stories
Intrcity’s Journey
Series C: Raised at a
valuation of 949Cr
IntrCity, ICICI Lombard and Marsh partners to provide

Rs 5 lakh insurance cover for SmartBus travelers
RailYatri kickstarts 'IntrCity SmartBus' on

Bengaluru-Chennai route
RailYatri integrates with IRCTC

Seed: Invested 0.6Cr at a 246Cr valuation
13.2Cr valuation
Series A: Invested 0.9Cr at a
38.6Cr valuation

Winner Stories
The Holdouts!
In the “is there a climax?” part of the story, these are the companies that are still alive and kicking - we’ll know soon what they
yield for Fund I & IA in 2024…
We expect at least a few here to make it into the winners list…

Appendix
Hi there!
Thanks for reading through our report. If you’re an investor or want to access a PDF copy of this report for academic
purposes, please feel free to write in to adithya@blume.vc with a line or two on your purpose for the same, and we’ll get back
to you soon.
Appendix
References & Glossary

Hi! While we have attempted to capture (and hyperlink) most of the technical terminologies used in the deck, there is always a chance that we may have missed
a few. If so, should an online search also fail to help, please feel free to write to us.
Written-off - The process of removing a non-performing asset or investment from a company’s balance sheet and ascribing a value of zero. For VCs, a total
write-off means the company they invested in has returned nothing.
Special Purpose Vehicle - Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) are legal entities that are created for one specific purpose. In venture, SPVs are used to pool
money from a group of investors to make a single investment in a startup.
Secondaries - Secondaries, in the context of venture capital, refer to the buying and selling of existing investments in privately held companies, rather than
investing directly in those companies as a primary investor.
Follow-on - A follow-on strategy is one where the VCs use their follow-on money to reinvest in the biggest winners, after risking their money in the first round.
Continuity Funds / Opportunity Fund - A new vehicle that is set up to take on the portfolio investments of a fund that is nearing the end of its lifespan.
Traditionally, LPs will invest in a 10-years long. However, when a GP wants to hold on to portfolio assets for longer, this new fund is set up. LPs are given the
option to cash out, or to stay invested in the portfolio and recommit to a new vehicle.
First Close - A fund's first close represents the first time that committed investors are admitted into the fund.
Investment Thesis - The term refers to a reasoned argument for a particular investment strategy, backed up by research and analysis. Investment theses are
commonly prepared by (and for) individual investors and businesses.
Pipeline - Pipeline refers to a series of companies that PE/VC firms have flagged as potential acquisition targets. This pipeline would include several stages,
such as industry research, lead generation, negotiations, due diligence, and closing.
93
Appendix
References & Glossary
Valuation - The analytical process of determining the current (or projected) worth of an asset or a company. Metrics such as business management,
composition of its capital structure, prospect of future earnings, market value of its assets are used to estimate valuation.
Syndicate - A syndicate is a group of investors that pools their capital to invest into deals. A member is invited to deals that he/she can choose to invest in on
a deal-by-deal basis. A syndicate allows investors to participate in a lead investor's deals.
J Curve - A trendline that shows an initial loss followed by a dramatic gain. This chart line follows the shape of a capital "J", ending in an improvement from
the starting point.
MOIC - Multiple on Invested Capital is the return multiple of a investment by comparing values on the exit date and initial investment amount.
DPI - Distributed to Paid-In Capital is used to measure the total capital that a PE/VC fund has returned thus far to its investors. The DPI value is the
cumulative value of all investor distributions expressed as a multiple of all the capital paid into the fund up to that time.
Anti-portfolio - Companies a VC had the effective opportunity to invest in, but were declined, and which turned out to be successes.
Series Funding Rounds. - A form of venture capital financing wherein a startup company receives investments from venture capital firms or other investors
in multiple funding rounds, or “series”.
94
Appendix
Disclaimer
The information in this presentation room is not intended for persons located or resident in jurisdictions where the distribution/marketing of such information is restricted or unauthorized.
No action has been taken to authorize, register or qualify any of the funds managed by ‘BLUME VENTURE INVESTMENT MANAGER LLP' or its affiliates (“Blume”), or otherwise permit
a public offering of any Blume managed funds in any jurisdiction, or to permit the distribution of information in relation to any of the Blume managed funds in any jurisdiction.
To the best of its knowledge and belief, Blume considers the information contained herein as accurate as at the date of publication. All information and opinions in this presentation are
subject to change without notice. No representation or warranty is given, whether express or implied, on the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of information provided in the
presentation or by third parties. The materials in this presentation could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors, and could become inaccurate as a result of developments
occurring after their respective dates. Blume undertakes no obligation to maintain the currency of such information. Neither Blume (including any of its partner/s or principal officer/s or
employees) nor its affiliates and their respective shareholders, partners, officers and employees assume any liabilities in respect of any errors or omissions in this presentation, or any
and all responsibility for any direct or consequential loss or damage of any kind resulting directly or indirectly from the use of information in this presentation. Unless otherwise agreed
with Blume, any use, disclosure, reproduction, modification or distribution of the contents of this presentation, or any part thereof, is strictly prohibited. Blume expressly disclaims any
liability, whether in contract, tort, strict liability or otherwise, for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, punitive or special damages arising out of, or in any way connected with
your use of this presentation.
This presentation is not an advertisement and is not intended for public use or distribution. This presentation has been prepared for the purpose of providing general information only
without taking account of any particular investor’s objectives, financial situation or needs and does not amount to an investment recommendation. It does not purport to contain all the
information that the prospective investor may require. An investor should, before making any investment decision, consider the appropriateness of the information in this presentation,
and seek professional advice, having regard to the investor’s objectives, financial situation, needs and regulatory requirements of jurisdiction of the investor. In all cases, anyone
proposing to rely on or use the information contained in the presentation should independently verify and check the accuracy, completeness, reliability and suitability of the information.
The information contained in this presentation does not constitute financial, investment, legal, accounting, tax or other professional advice or a solicitation for investment in Blume, nor
does it constitute an offer, solicitation, marketing, publication for sale of interests / units issued by funds that are managed or advised by Blume. Any offer can only be made by the
relevant offering documents, together with the relevant forms/agreements, all of which must be read and understood in their entirety, and only in jurisdictions where such an offer is in
compliance with relevant laws and regulatory requirements.
Please note that, past and projected performance may not necessarily be indicative of future results. The aimed returns mentioned anywhere in this presentation are purely indicative
and are not promised or guaranteed in any manner. Returns are dependent on prevalent market factors, liquidity and credit conditions. Instrument returns depicted are in the current
context and may be significantly different in the future. There is no guarantee that aimed returns may be met. Figures may be taken from sources that are believed to be reliable (but
may not necessarily have been independently verified), and such figures should not be relied upon in making investment decisions. Blume or any of its partner/s or principal officer/s or
employees do not assure/give guarantee for any accuracy of any fact/interpretations or completeness of such information and shall not be liable to any person including the beneficiary
for any claim or demand for damages or otherwise in relation to such information.
95
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Ep 1, Dec 2023 | Blume Fund I Declassified

Karthik Reddy | karthik@blume.vc

A Note from the

Blume Ventures presents the First Edition of The Omega Files.

And why now?

2011: When Fund I Investments Kicked-off 2023: Today

$30 0.02 Bn $43,000 1.3 Bn

95% 55% 900%

750% 250% 150%

$3 Bn ~450 $6.7 Mn $26 Bn ~1,600 $16 Mn

Culture & Media

Pipeline & Portfolio

Flashback: A VC’s Pitch Deck

Fund I Terms (2011) Fund IA Terms (2013)

BONUS 1: Click HERE to visit our original LP Fundraising Decks

Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data | Glossary 8

Flashback: Making a Case for Blume‘s early strategy

Fund Strategy & Focus Platform Strategy Proposal

Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data | Glossary 9

Blume Fund I, and her lesser known siblings…

Main Funds (India-domiciled) SPVs (International-domiciled)

Source of funds: Who were our LPs

80% of our total

Wealth Managers Friends & Cold

Source of funds: Double click on Domestic LPs

LPs by Count (~80 LPs) LPs by Amount (INR ~120 Cr)

Avg Cheq. Size of

Over 25% of Fund IA corpus

Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Linkedin 13

Pipeline & Portfolio

Where did we source our deals from?

“Network Associations” “Referrers”

Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data 16

Top 5 Reasons why we passed on a deal

3 Had existing portfolio that was

4 We were capped at $250K (1.25cr back

5 The startup was domiciled overseas or

Unicorn Status Listed on Nasdaq

Educational Background of our Fund I founders

Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn, LinkedIn 18

Undergrad Majors of Fund I founders

1 out of 3 founders with an undergrad tech

Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn, LinkedIn 19

Does Pedigree matter?

Investment Portfolio Performance Post-Graduation

Different strokes for different folks

Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn, LinkedIn 21

Once a founder, always often becomes a repeat founder

Why did Founders exit in the

Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn, LinkedIn 22

Birth of the “Blume Mafia”

More than half of those employed, Blume has backed ~50% of

3 of our founders have

Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn, LinkedIn 23

VC was not easily available in the

Portfolio Construction of Fund I: Domestic vs Global opportunity

International Software and Enterprise Tech

Domestic Consumer and SMB

Source: Blume Ventures Internal Data 25

The Series A “Valley of Death” was very deep pre-2015

What happened to those Co’s. that

Sources: Blume Ventures Internal Data, Pitchbook, Tracxn, LinkedIn | Glossary 26

< 30% of Top Portfolio Cohort **