In Full Blume: Ultrahuman, Green Hydrogen Report, Euler’s ‘winning’ formula, exciting product launches, and more
Updates from the Blume team and portfolio companies
Trust us when we say this: we couldn’t have started 2024 in a better way! We have a melange of news from our portfolio companies, and once you read them, you’ll know why we said the above statement!
Welcome to 2024’s first edition of In Full Blume, our monthly roundup of updates from the Blume team and portfolio.
Here’s what’s in store in this edition:
Ultrahuman and…..Ultrahuman
Euler, to the power of three
GreyOrange and Healthify crushing the numbers
IntrCity’s growing presence …and lots more!
We are so Del(l)ighted!
Reading Kaleidofin's feature in Forbes last month was already amazing, but having the article shared by Michael Dell himself is the cherry on the cake.
For the uninitiated, Sucharita Mukherjee is on a mission with Kaleidofin (Blume Fund II company). This Chennai-headquartered financial technology platform helps under-banked customers, particularly women, to meet their real-life goals by providing tailored financial solutions.
Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies, posted on LinkedIn - “Excited about the work of Michael & Susan Dell Foundation partner Kaleidofin Private Limited, a #fintech company that’s helping under-banked customers in India save for their futures. The company’s #AI powered credit scoring tool also helps small entrepreneurs access funding to grow their businesses.”
As they say, this is just the start!
Exciting Launches
‘Ultrahuman’ has ‘Ultra’ numbers too!
Mind you, this one is hot off the press!
Ultrahuman, a Blume Fund III company that sells wearable devices and services that help users track metabolic health, is witnessing 20% month-on-month growth in revenue and is on track to cross $50 million in annual run rate (ARR) by March 2024, Mohit Kumar, founder and Chief Executive Officer, told the Economic Times. The Bengaluru-based startup is currently at an ARR of ~ $31 million.
Mohit further said that Ultrahuman makes 75% of its revenue from outside India, including 30% from the US and 15% from the UK and UAE. He is truly creating a company that is building for the world.
Wait, there’s now an Ultrahuman Home, too!
Ultrahuman recently introduced Ultrahuman Home, a sleek and powerful device that will provide insights into an individual's external environment, including exposure to artificial light, air quality, humidity, and noise levels.
For this, the company won a Best in CES 2024 Award as soon as it was launched.
This Wi-Fi router-like device is a first-of-its-kind in the wearable space that leverages home health data and correlates the home environment to an individual’s lifestyle (such as sleep and stress). With shipments to begin by July, this device is already turning heads and has been featured in a ton of press coverage.
smallcase and Zerodha launch LIQUIDCASE, India’s first liquid ETF
smallcase (Blume Fund II) and brokerage house Zerodha’s joint venture asset management company (AMC) Zerodha Fund House, has launched LIQUIDCASE on NSE and BSE exchange.
LIQUIDCASE is India’s first liquid LTF, which provides a growth NAV. It tracks the Nifty 1D Rate Index, which measures the returns generated by market participants lending in the overnight market. The ETF's return profile will be similar to that of overnight mutual funds, offering returns better than most savings bank account interest rates.
Exotel launches ‘The House of AI’
Exotel (Blume Fund I company), a leading customer engagement platform, has launched ‘The House of AI,’ a comprehensive suite of advanced AI-driven solutions tailored to redefine how businesses engage with customers. Thanks to this bet, the company expects to achieve 50% revenue growth by 2025.
Anil Kumar, CTO of Exotel, says, “Understanding the small, important details in every customer conversation is very important. This ability presented by ‘The House of AI’ enables a meticulous understanding of customer intent, emotional state and sentiment within every dialogue. We are confident that this will give businesses an unparalleled insight into customer conversations and help deliver impactful engagements.”
Pixxel gets more Space; opens 30,000 sq ft manufacturing facility
Pixxel (Blume Fund III), a satellite and space data company, has ‘launched’ aka opened a 30,000 sqft manufacturing facility ‘MegaPixxel’ in Bengaluru. This is the company’s first large-scale satellite assembly, integration, and testing facility. What this means is that the company can now work on an ‘assembly line’ of satellites, instead of just one or two at one point. The facility can now build up to 50 satellites a year.
Pixxel has six satellites in the pipeline for 2024 and 18 more in the coming year! Watch co-founder Awais Ahmed talk about all this and more with CNBC here.
Bragworthy Numbers
Electrifying start to the year for Euler Motors
Electric vehicle manufacturer Euler Motors (Blume Fund III) has been consistently hitting the top three rank, just behind Mahindra & Mahindra and Piaggio Vehicles, for three-wheeler cargo electric sales over the last three months in India, according to data from the Vahan Dashboard. (We know that it is a lot of threes; adding one more to the list… three cheers to Euler!)
In a growing segment where they are competing against manufacturing giants, it is indeed an achievement worth cherishing. Kudos to the team!
Ringing in a health‘if’y new-year
Healthify (Blume Fund II), a major health and fitness company, broke its all-time record with sales of US$300k in one day on January 1, 2024! If you ask us, there is no better way to usher in the new year! And the highlight was that this was achieved by lunchtime on Jan 1.
Nearly two-thirds came from renewals, signaling the crazy customer love that HealthifyMe has earned over the years. The company welcomed a new user every six seconds, and a subscription was bought every 1 minute. To top it all, its users tracked more than eight foods per second on Jan 1. A record-breaking new year, indeed!
IntrCity SmartBus journeys on the road less traveled
IntrCity SmartBus (Blume Fund I) has now reached 2.5 lakh seats per month with over 100 million passenger-seat kilometers. Also, IntrCity is now the market leader across several routes in North and South India, commanding a whopping 15-20% market share in a highly fragmented industry.
Kapil Raizada, co-founder of IntrCity SmartBus, shared all this and more in an interview with ETTravelWorld.
"Our network has demonstrated rapidly growing consumer adoption, with annual revenues in FY23 growing 6.5x compared to FY21. This growth has been accompanied by a continuous increase in margins, even during the pandemic interruptions, with the gross profits increasing 9.0x over the same period," he said.
The company’s annual revenues are expected to cross INR 350 crore this fiscal year, along with the first full year of EBITDA profitability. What sets them apart is their enhanced privacy, boarding points with Wi-Fi-enabled AC lounges with in-built washrooms, and on-table hygienic food service. They also ensure real-time bus tracking and secure boarding areas.
Peak season made flawless, yet again
GreyOrange (Blume Fund I), an automated robotic fulfillment and inventory optimization company, has again outdone itself with another flawless peak season execution.
The numbers speak for themselves: 10,000+ robots assisting human operators, 630,000 decisions per minute, 99% SLA compliance, and 300% yo-y increase in units packed. Now, that’s how you ‘deliver’ holiday cheer!
Watch this video to know more!
Nuanced takes
Omega files are a rage
As you must have seen, we at Blume did something unprecedented: a public deconstruction of our first fund, the highs, the lows, and everything in between!
The Indian VC scenario was a lot different in 2011 when we began. While we’ve dug deep into our bets, Omega Files is also a study into the evolution of the startup ecosystem in India through the lens of Blume’s investments.
Karthik Reddy, cofounder of Blume Ventures, spoke to Shereen Bhan on Young Turks, CNBC TV18’s premier business show about the Omega files. Watch it here!
You can download the Omega Files here.
The Neon Show 🤝Ashish Fafadia
Ashish Fafadia, Partner at Blume Ventures, in a freewheeling chat on the Neon Show, talks about a host of topics-- history of VC in India, the Blume inception story, raising funds, top Blume investments, investor FOMO, job as a VC, biggest learnings, and how to succeed as a VC, among other topics!
Be ready to be engrossed in this 1.5-hour conversation that covers the length and breadth of the India opportunity. Siddhartha Ahluwalia, who hosts the Neon Show labeled this episode as “a must-watch podcast before you apply for a Venture Capital job.”
Investors invest in a line, not in a point
Sanjay Nath, co-founder of Blume, has seen a lot of first-time founders, and one must pay heed when he speaks about how first-time founders should approach investors.
In the latest episode of the Knowledge Series, hosted by Prof Bhagwan Chowdhry, Faculty Director of I-Venture@ISB, as part of the Startup India Innovation Week, Sanjay delves into what founders should know when navigating the choppy waters of raising funds.
Sanjay reveals strategic approaches and intricate details that founders will find helpful, like sector tailwinds, mindset, and complexities.
Green Hydrogen BLUprint Report
Sonisha Kukreja and Mudit Narain of Blume dive deep into the role of green hydrogen in achieving net-zero emissions, highlighting its importance in the transition to renewable energy in this report.
The report delves into the challenges of integrating renewable energy, emphasizing green hydrogen as a key element for reducing CO2 emissions in energy-intensive sectors. It also touches upon the global and Indian context, including the market potential, challenges, and innovations in green hydrogen production and applications.
Nothing like external validation
Not one in a Hazar (one thousand), she’s one in 50, our very own Akanksha Hazari
Akanksha Hazari, CEO of LoveLocal (Blume Fund II company), a hyperlocal e-commerce startup, has been identified as one of Asia's top 50 women in tech by Wire19s.
LoveLocal empowers local retailers in the country's $1.1 trillion unorganized retail market. Since its inception in January 2020, LoveLocal has seen meteoric growth and caters to over 1300 pin codes across India.
Given her many achievements, we aren’t surprised by this recognition. Kudos, Akanksha!
Best of the best to watch out for
We couldn’t be happier that Aerem, a solar tech platform, and DPDZero, a fintech startup, have been identified as a part of the 20 ‘best of the best startups’ by Inc42 across seven editions of ‘30 Startups To Watch’. Both are Blume Fund IV companies.
Inc42 calls these 20 the “crème de la crème of the 210 startups featured in all of 2023’s coverage.”
It is an honor to support companies dazzling the world with their vision and execution.
Spray and pray no more! Just spray (it right) will do!
Niqo Robotics (Blume Fund III), an AI-powered agricultural robots maker, was recently showcased on BBC News’ premier tech show, BBC Click, as a trailblazing AI and deep tech company transforming India's agriculture landscape.
The company’s smart spot spray technology revolutionizes farming and helps farmers save over 60% on chemical costs, ensuring targeted spraying on plants without affecting the soil. Head over to the news features to witness the future of climate-smart agriculture!/
Sprinto sprints to the ‘Coolest’ tag
Sprinto (Blume Fund III company), a security and compliance platform, has been featured in the Business Today magazine as one of India's coolest startups!
The profile reads, “After taking a year off (after exiting his previous venture Recruiterbox), he (Girish) set his eyes on security compliance for cloud-based tech companies, carving out a niche by exclusively catering to cloud-hosted entities. That’s how Sprinto was born.”
We are super-glad that Girish Redekar and Raghuveer Kancherla took the leap of faith by starting up once again. Congratulations on this recognition to the entire Sprinto team! Certainly a ‘cool’ way of welcoming the new year!