Blume Ventures carves out fund to make small bets

Homegrown venture capital firm Blume Ventures has launched Blume Founders Fund to make small investments in startups outside its main funds.

The Blume Founders Fund will utilise 1-2% of core investment funds, said the venture capital firm in a statement.

It will be managed by Sarita Raichura, who joined Blume Ventures last year from the Indian Angel Network. Sanjay Nath, co-founder and a partner, will act as the mentor.

Blume Ventures said that it launched the programme called Blume Founders Fund to accommodate "strong founders" who otherwise would not be able to be a part of its network through core funds.

The Blume Founders Fund has already invested in five startups including short-form video commerce and content super-app Chingari, fintech firm Indiagold and direct-to-consumer brand Monrow. It has also invested in two other startups engaged in robotics and fintech.

The Blume Founders Fund typically invests $25,000-100,000 depending on the size of the round. It does not invest beyond the first cheque.

Blume Ventures is not the only venture capital firm to carve out an entity from core funds to make smaller. Last year, YourNest launched a fast-track funding programme called SOAR and Waterbridge floated Fast Forward funding programme.

Blume Ventures is one of the most active investors in the country, having backed more than 100 startups including TaxiforSure (acquired by Ola) and Zipdial (bought by Twitter).

Last year in February, it marked the final close of its third fund at $102 million (Rs 715 crore), making it the first homegrown venture capital firm to cross the milestone of $100 million in a single fund.

The venture capital firm also marked the final close of its Opportunity Fund -- Fund IIA -- at $41 million last year.