Venture Capital firm Blume Ventures, which has backed unicorns including Unacademy, Slice, Purplle, Spinny, and others, has announced that its inaugural fund (Fund I) along with its extension Fund IA has realised 5x of the invested capital so far, and is on track to realise 6x gross returns by its full lifecycle in 2024.
The VC’s Fund I was launched in 2011 with an initial capital of ₹98 crore, followed by ₹24.5 crore for its extension Fund IA in 2013. The fund had attracted capital from more than 80 investors, including the Technology Development Board (Fund I) and SIDBI (Fund IA), and had invested in over 70 start-ups till 2015.
Blume invested Fund I and IA in 70+ start-ups between 2010 and 2015, with the idea of ‘Institutionalised micro VC’. Nearly 17 companies (20 per cent of the portfolio) generated 98 per cent of the fund’s gross returns. These include GreyOrange, Carbon Clean, Turtlemint, Cashify, Purplle, Zopper, BeaconStac, E2E Networks, Mettl, Exotel, IDfy, Intrcity (Railyatri), Taxi For Sure, Promptec, Zidial, WebEngage, and Infollion.
The top three made 3x of the entire fund. These include GreyOrange, Carbon Clean, and Turtlemint. “The loss ratio of this early vintage is close to 50 per cent on the count of start-ups but significantly lower on the capital,” the firm said in a statement.
“We’ve always believed that while the returns of a VC fund are typically discussed amidst much secrecy, there’s immense value in sharing these figures more broadly with the ecosystem,” added Karthik Reddy, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Blume Ventures.
Founded by Karthik Reddy and Sanjay Nath in 2010, Blume has raised successor funds in 2015-16 and 2018-19, culminating in $60 million Fund II and $102 million Fund III. In late 2022, the firm raised Fund IV, valued at over $290 million.
Blume also manages Opportunity Funds and Continuity Funds, which have elevated its total assets under management to over $600 million. In June 2023, the VC had raised ₹200 crore in the first close of its new opportunity fund, Fund 1Y.