Early-stage investor Blume Ventures, which has backed the likes of Dunzo and Unacademy, on Thursday said it has hit the first close of its new opportunity fund, Fund 1Y, at $25 million.
Fund 1Y, which is Blume’s third growth fund, comes close on the heels of its $290 million India-dedicated fund which closed in December.
Set up in 2010 by Karthik Reddy and Sanjay Nath, Blume has backed over 100 startups, including Slice, Spinny, Classplus, Servify, Lambdatest, Koo, Locus, Healthifyme, smallcase, Euler, Jai Kisan, and Pixxel, through multiple funds.
Fund 1Y is backed by a high-quality LP base, with existing LPs in Blume’s other funds participating again. The venture firm raised successor funds in 2015-16 and 2018-19, growing to a $60-million Fund II and a $102-million Fund III.
As a part of this Fundraise, Blume Ventures said it will invest part of the capital from Fund 1Y to buy out firms such as Intrcity, Cashify, Carbon Clean, and Zopper from their legacy Fund I and allied investment vehicles and use the remaining to invest in the existing companies of their other funds.
“The current environment and our unique strategy allow us to balance the interests of our current and incoming investors and hold the best of our companies for another 3-4 years before eventual public listing and create wealth for the local ecosystem. It’s a win-win solution for all involved,” Karthik Reddy, co-founder and Partner, Blume Ventures, said.
Blume’s fundraising comes as deal activity has staggered globally, with companies struggling to raise capital.
In an interview with DealStreetAsia in December, Sanjay Nath, co-founder at Blume Ventures, said he expects the funding winter to end soon. “Once startups are able to return to profitability and sustainable metrics, the downtime will get better, which is probably in the middle of 2023.” he said.