It’s nice to have you back here. Welcome to In Full Blume, our monthly roundup of updates from the Blume team and portfolio.
Let’s see what’s in store in this edition:
Continuing to revolutionize the fintech landscape, slice raises a debt round of USD 9M
Euler Motors, in a bid to expand its pan-India presence, raised a Series C extension round of INR 120Cr (USD 17.5M)
Karthik Reddy discusses the unique model of Indian tech success with The Economist
Blume Portfolio companies continue to do us proud by winning accolades as innovators, receiving special mentions from industry leaders like Satya Nadella, and hitting new milestones
Let us dive in.
Funding Spotlight
slice raises a USD 9M debt round from Stride Ventures
Payments, and consumer lending start-up slice (Blume Fund II) raised USD 9M (INR 75 Cr) as debt from Stride Ventures. In October, slice announced its merger with North East Small Finance Bank. We are proud to see the slice team going from strength to strength.
More details about the round here.
Euler Motors raises INR 120Cr as Series C extension round
Electric vehicle company Euler Motors (Blume Fund III) raised INR 120Cr (USD 17.5M) as a Series C extension round. New investors British International Investment (BII) and Green Frontier Capital, along with existing investors Blume Ventures, GIC Singapore, and ADB Ventures participated in this round.
The funds raised will drive Euler’s pan-Indian expansion. The company aims to establish its presence in 40 cities by the end of FY 2023-24.
More details here.
Blumiers and Shakers
Ultrahuman is the market leader in the Smart Ring category (and Ring Air gets accolades from CNBC-TV18)
According to IDC, Ultrahuman (Fund III company) leads the Indian Smart Ring market with a share of 75.5%. India’s wearable device market grew by 29.2% YoY, with 48.1 million units sold in 3Q23 (July-Sept). Link to the report here.
Not only this, in a recent review, CNBC-TV18 gave Ultrahuman Ring Air major props. In the reviewer Vijay Anand’s words, “Its comfortable and unobtrusive design, combined with a wealth of insights and recommendations, makes it an attractive option for those looking to monitor their well-being through a stylish piece of jewelry.”
Battery Smart founders Pulkit Khurana and Siddharth Sikka listed in Fortune India’s 40 under 40 for the second time
Pulkit Khurana and Siddharth Sikka, co-founders of Battery Smart (a Fund IV company), a provider of battery swapping networks for electric two-wheelers and e-rickshaws, were featured in Fortune India’s 40 under 40 list for the second year in a row. Way to go, gentlemen. We are super proud of your achievements!
Carbon Clean recognized among the top 50 UK innovators
Carbon Clean (Fund I company) continues its winning streak, recognized among the top 50 UK innovators by BusinessGreen. Carbon Clean offers a cost-effective and space-saving carbon capture technology to businesses such as CEMEX and Chevron.
DPDZero recognized by Inc42 Media among 30 startups to watch out for
DPDZero (Fund IV company), a lending collection tech startup, is recognized by Inc42 Media among the 30 startups to watch out for. This accolade reinforces the positive impact made by DPDZero in the ecosystem already.
LambdaTest gets a shout-out from ‘the’ Satya Nadella
LambdaTest (Fund III company), a digital cloud testing SaaS provider, was mentioned by Satya Nadella for bringing about efficiency in the ecosystem that allows people to focus on testing versus test orchestration.
This tweed from Asad Khan, CEO and co-founder of LambdaTest made our day and our month!
Zipy is now in 100 countries
Zipy (Fund IV company), a software provider that assists companies in driving product adoption, has reached a new milestone: It now has customers in 100+ countries. Zipy will continue to expand its global presence, building from India for the world. Read more.
BHive celebrated its 9th anniversary
BHive (Fund II company), a co-working space provider, recently celebrated its 9th anniversary. The company started as a single villa nine years ago and is now one of India's largest co-working space providers.
More details here.
Ati Motors featured in Forbes India for bringing about efficiency on the factory floor
Ati Motors (Fund III company), a provider of autonomous cargo robots, was featured in Forbes India. CTO Naveen Arulselvan walked Harichandan Arakali, Editor - Tech & Innovation at Forbes, through the company's evolution since 2017 and how Ati Motors’ clients are helping the company understand the efficiency Ati brings about on the factory floor.
Gaurav Baheti, on completing five years as a first-time founder
Gaurav Baheti, co-founder of Procol (Fund III company), a Gurgaon-based procurement software provider to enterprises, pens his thoughts as the company completes five years. He shares his experience as a first-time founder, learning from his mistakes and his plans for the future.
Delve into his insights here.
Rocketium partners with Cleartrip
Rocketium (Fund II company), a creative ops platform, has partnered with Cleartrip, one of India’s largest online travel portals. Rocketium will enable Cleartrip to create customized content for customers across geographies.
More details here.
Karthik Reddy talks to The Economist about the differences between building in India vs. Silicon Valley
Karthik Reddy recently spoke to The Economist about the need for a different model to build a successful tech company in India compared to Silicon Valley.
The Indian markets are skewed towards the top percentile, driving the bulk of consumption. Case in point: 8% of Indian households own a car, 35M public market investors (out of 1400M population), and an estimated 45m Indians are responsible for over half of all online spending. Unlike many other markets, India is not yet a large market, but it is a market with a large potential.
Thus, the companies that win in India are building frugally for the long term, taking a measured approach toward future success rather than short-term gains.
Sanjay Nath and Sumangal Vinjamuri of Blume pen their thoughts on why city clusters matter to the startup ecosystem
In a collaboration with Outlook Business, Sanjay Nath and Sumangal Vinjamuri expound on how city clusters are revolutionizing the entrepreneur ecosystem. The talent network, infrastructural might, and vibrant ecosystem that a city cluster brings to the fore foster success stories from New York to Chennai.
Karthik Reddy on India – The Next Startup Nation?
Karthik Reddy sat down with Professor Karthik Krishnan for a fireside conversation at Northeastern University's Center for Emerging Markets’ second annual India Summit: India – The Next Startup Nation?
They spoke about Karthik's journey into Venture Capital, the transformation of the Indian startup ecosystem over the last 25 years, the factors that influence private investors such as scale, TAM, margin, and founders, and the importance of scalability for Indian startups leading to IPO-led exits.
Watch the full video here.