@Lightfurygames has raised $11M.
Backed by Blume Ventures, V3, Times Internet, and MIXI.
Also invested in by MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Tilak Varma & Sai Sudharsan.
@ecricketgame — built in India, for the world.
Jai Hind. 🇮🇳
🚨 🎙️E1 of Season 4 of the Blume Podcast is here!
In the season opener, we uncover a story of relentless persistence: 100+ bank rejections, a grandfather's property sale as ‘angel’ funding, India's first fintech to get into the Y Combinator, and two young engineers determined to fix India's broken payments system.
Karthik Reddy (@BKartRed) sits down with @Razorpay founders Harshil Mathur (@harshilmathur) and Shashank Kumar (@shashank_kr) for their most candid conversation yet.
This raw, unfiltered conversation takes us back to the beginning—before the meteoric growth, IPO plans, and billion-dollar valuations—to reveal what it truly takes to disrupt payments and build a fintech juggernaut.
Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://t.co/2glPIJGLPD
More ways to watch/listen/read in comments.
@AshishFafadia@sajithpai@sanjaynath@arpiit@riashroff@saritaraichu@mehtaalok@mitul_am@SeekingN0rth@DeepikaDakuda@gauthamsiv@vikramg05@ray_elton99@AdithyaS017@ycombinator@VikramV23@paulg@garrytan@z47_vc@josephseb@jatinmadhra
Brought to you in partnership with @IDFCFIRSTBank and @UltrahumanHQ (Blume Fund III portco).
🧵 Here's a thread of our favorite moments from the conversation.
💡 From a tiny Delhi shop to powering India's largest EV network — this is how two IITians built @BatterySmartIN (Fund IV) into a 125,000 swaps/day powerhouse
In the sweltering Delhi summer of 2020, @pulkit_kh (Pulkit) and @sidsikka (Siddharth) were running their fledgling battery-swapping startup from a cramped 200-square-foot shop in Janakpuri. Half the space served as a charging station for e-rickshaw batteries, while the other half was their office, where they meticulously tracked every battery exchange on handwritten sheets.
In the early days, most investors they pitched to dismissed their vision. "E-rickshaws are too niche," they said. "The market is too small, too low-tech." After all, how could you build a venture-scalable business around battery-swapping for local rickshaw drivers?
Fast forward to today — that small Delhi shop has grown into Battery Smart, India's largest battery-swapping network. The company now processes over 125,000 battery swaps daily across 1,500 stations in 50 cities.
This means that over 70,000 drivers daily can now be on the road instead of waiting for their vehicle’s battery to charge, increase their daily earnings by more than 50%.
But this didn't happen overnight. The path from “too niche” to 125,000 daily swaps is full of lessons on grit, timing, and focus.
@ray_elton99 (Elton) and @SeekingN0rth (Rohit) spoke to Pulkit to uncover how Battery Smart built India's largest battery swap network, creating real economic impact in India's last-mile mobility sector. Click below to read the full story 👇
https://t.co/qmUx9G4g9M
@BKartRed@AshishFafadia@sajithpai@sanjaynath@arpiit@riashroff@saritaraichu@mehtaalok@mitul_am@SeekingN0rth@DeepikaDakuda@gauthamsiv@ray_elton99@vikramg05
��� From being scoffed at by investors to launching India's first hyperspectral satellites—this is how @awaisahmedna and @kshitijgokul are building India’s most ambitious space-tech startup.
In a pristine white laboratory, an engineer's hand trembles slightly while adjusting a satellite component. The margin for error? Less than the width of a human hair. One wrong move could compromise millions worth of advanced imaging technology. "Building these satellites is like performing neurosurgery," Awais Ahmed recalls. "Even breathing in the wrong direction could damage the equipment."
@PixxelSpace (Fund III) has transformed from an ambitious vision into India's leading space-tech company. Their constellation of advanced hyperspectral satellites now serves Fortune 500 clients across continents, processing Earth observation data that helps detect early crop disease, alert authorities about underground oil pipeline leaks, identify mineral compositions, among other use cases.
With three successful "Firefly" satellites in orbit and contracts worth millions of dollars, they've proven that breakthrough space technology can emerge from India.
@sanjaynath , partner at Blume Ventures who led the investment in Pixxel, saw the successful launch as vindication. Blume was among the first to back these young founders with little aerospace experience. "The launch of the fireflies is but a small milestone compared to the grand long-term journey that Pixxel is on," he reflects. "It was certainly the effort of two very special founders and a world-class team pouring their life's work into those satellites." The journey to this milestone, however, was anything but smooth.
From making the gut-wrenching decision to abort their first launch just weeks before liftoff, to building critical components from scratch when supply chains failed, to achieving precision engineering in conditions where even a speck of dust could spell disaster—Awais and his team turned skepticism into stellar success.
This is a story of precision, perseverance, and proving that with enough determination, you can literally reach for the stars.
@ray_elton99 and @SeekingN0rth spoke with Awais to learn how he built Pixxel from an audacious dream into a space technology pioneer. Click the link below to read the full article 👇
https://t.co/ljlBGbywzQ
@BKartRed @AshishFafadia @sajithpai @sanjaynath
@arpiit @riashroff @saritaraichu @mehtaalok @mitul_am @SeekingN0rth @DeepikaDakuda @gauthamsiv @ray_elton99 @vikramg05
2 years ago, when I joined @BlumeVentures, we weren’t sure what lay ahead for Narrowcast, our annual publication.
The stories were exceptional — worth reading more than once.
But the questions lingered: Could we get the format right? Could we crack distribution? Could we take it to the founders and operators who needed it most?
Fast forward to today.
This week, seeing Narrowcast: Winning Beyond Boundaries displayed at @crossword_book (thank you for the photo, @sajithpai) felt like a small but meaningful step forward.
This year's edition features the journeys of 11 exceptional Indians in conversation with @BKartRed, who have smashed boundaries to pieces and built their businesses, careers, and brands globally.
These include: Girish Mathrubootham (@mrgirish), Harsh Mariwala (@hcmariwala), Anand Deshpande (@anandesh), Akash Gupta, Mohit Kumar (@deeppurpled), Aditya Ghosh (@iamadityaghosh), Amitabh Kant (@amitabhk87), Mukund Rajan (@Mukund_Rajan), Alok Sama (@alok_sama), Neeraj Chopra, and Mahesh Bhupathi.
While the work of telling exceptional stories from the ecosystem and for the ecosystem is perhaps just 1% done, this tells us that we are on the right track.
If you haven't read it, I'll leave a link in the comments.
If you have already read it, please consider leaving us a review so more people can find it.
@vigneshjsarma@yashrajsharma_@adityakuber
At Blume, we were investing in deeptech before “deeptech” was even a term, backing exceptional founders building the future from the ground up—hardware, robotics, climate, space, health, and more—India-first, global in ambition. 🚀 🌎
This was true in our inaugural fund, when everyone else wondered if Indian robotics/manufacturing companies can ever work, and it is true today as we invest from our Fund IV, when Indian deeptech companies are breaking out.
Here's a look at our portcos, building from atoms to bytes!
🤖 Automation & Robotics
@GoGreyOrange (Fund I vintage): Pioneered warehouse automation and robotics at a global scale
@ati_motors (Fund III): Building autonomous electric vehicles for industrial logistics—designed in India, deployed worldwide
@NiqoRobotics (Fund III): AI-driven robotic sprayers that enable precision farming, one pixel at a time
FloMobility (Discovery): Micromobility robots that rethink how we move in cities
🛠 Advanced Manufacturing
@etherealmachine (Fund III): Making 5D hybrid manufacturing machines—merging subtractive and additive in one CNC platform
Euler Motors (Fund III): Electric commercial vehicles manufactured for Indian roads
Matter (Discovery): Building the next-gen electric powertrain and EV platform, ground-up
🌌 Space Tech
@PixxelSpace (Fund III): Launching a constellation of hyperspectral satellites for climate, agriculture, and disaster insights
TakeMe2Space (Discovery): Building access and infrastructure for India’s commercial space ambitions
@DhruvaSpace (Discovery): Full-stack space infrastructure—from satellite platforms to launch services
🫀 Health Tech
@tricoghealth (Fund II): Early cardiac diagnosis powered by AI—saving lives at scale across India and beyond
@UltrahumanHQ (Fund III): Advanced biosensors and wearables that help decode and elevate human performance
🌱 Climatetech
@carbonsolu (Fund I): Leading global carbon capture tech—decarbonizing heavy industries
@vecmocon (Fund IV): Battery intelligence software that powers the EV revolution
India’s deeptech decade is just getting started—and we’re proud to be backing the builders.
@Bkartred@AshishFafadia@sajithpai@sanjaynath@arpiit@riashroff@saritaraichu@mehtaalok@mitul_am@SeekingN0rth@DeepikaDakuda@gauthamsiv@vikramg05@venkatesh__modi
Big news! We’ve raised $12.5M in Series B funding, led by @GoodwaterCap & @BlumeVentures — including $2.5m worth secondaries for some angel investors!
BUT, this isn’t about money. It is a validation that India’s regional cultures deserve to shine. It is about envisioning a world where everyone is proud of their cultural identity.
with 1 app
3 cultures
20 mn users
4.4 mn+ paying households &
180 cr in ARR
How did we get here? And where do we go next? Time for a 🧵👇
🚀 Second-time Blume founder on track for another home run
Some founders don’t just build companies—they redefine categories. @raghugnandan, a serial entrepreneur who led @taxiforsure (Fund I) to a $200M exit with Ola in 2015, is doing it again with Zolve—this time, transforming cross-border finance.
@zolve_official has secured $251 million in Series B funding, with Creaegis leading the equity round and Community Investment Management providing a $200M debt line. With a mission to give global citizens seamless access to credit and banking from day one, Zolve has already served 750,000+ customers and processed over $1.2B in transactions.
"The financial system isn't designed for mobility. When talented people move countries, their financial history is erased overnight. We're changing that by giving global citizens access to credit and banking from the moment they arrive." said Raghunandan when asked about the importance of Zolve.
Raghu’s track record speaks for itself—he knows how to spot the right market, build with conviction, and scale with precision. With this fresh capital, Zolve is now set to expand beyond the U.S. and launch in Canada, the UK, and Australia, bringing financial freedom to even more global professionals and students.
Onwards and upwards, Team Zolve! 🚀
To read the entire article, click the following link: https://t.co/rulqxtSUQU
@Bkartred@AshishFafadia@sajithpai@sanjaynath@arpiit@riashroff@saritaraichu@mehtaalok@mitul_am@SeekingN0rth@DeepikaDakuda@gauthamsiv
@AdvantageAssam adding a dimension and a force multiplier through the startups. Classic example of progressive governance, determined local ecosystem can come together and achieve. (1/5)
The Indus Valley Report 2025 - 4th edition is here!! 🎉
This report is our take on India and the Indian startup ecosystem, through different lenses to sensemake what we call as “Indus Valley” - a catch-all moniker for the Indian startup ecosystem.
Here are 14 lenses or frames for you all to munch on
@sajithpai@llnachull@blumeventures@dhruvtrehan9
The founders from our latest fund IV have been pushing the envelope to build world class products for India and beyond. You may be wondering who they are and what they are up to. #BlumeDay2025 felt like the perfect moment to introduce them to the world.
Here’s a look at what they’re working on ⬇️
👉 Fashor – A homegrown fashion brand making ethnic wear more accessible with a perfect mix of style, affordability, and quality.
👉 Zoplar – A medical supplies platform transforming operational efficiency with smarter sourcing and a robust service network.
👉 LightFury Games – Taking India’s gaming industry global with high-quality, immersive gaming experiences.
👉 SiftHub– Helping sales and pre-sales teams find and use knowledge more efficiently with AI-driven discovery and automation.
👉 BillionHearts – A consumer-tech company with a vision to create digital products for a global mobile-first audience.
Stay tuned for the next video where we unveil what other founders from fund IV are up to.
@Bkartred@AshishFafadia@sajithpai@sanjaynath@arpiit@riashroff@saritaraichu@mehtaalok@mitul_am@SeekingN0rth@DeepikaDakuda@gauthamsiv@TheKaranShroff@BanerjeeAnurag@TinaBalachandr1@ManishaRaisingh@mayankbidawatka@Lightfurygames@sifthubhq
Oh my God, we’re back again! (Any Backstreet Boys fans 😉)
The latest edition of Blume Day is here, and this year, it’s bigger than ever!
Over 600 portfolio founders, LPs, co-investors, and ecosystem enablers are coming together to make this the most productive—and fun—Blume Day yet.
Think of Blume Day as our version of the Oscars🏆 —where we gather to toast the success of our thriving startups and celebrate the bold new entrants in our fund.
We have come a long way since our inception in 2010, it really does feel like we have transitioned from a fund to a family.
So here’s to #BlumeDay2025- a night filled with learning, connection, and plenty of memorable moments. Stay tuned for live updates straight from the event tomorrow! 🫰🏼
P.S. Since 2015, we've embraced a cherished tradition: each year, we craft a unique T-shirt that embodies the spirit of Blume Day. Take a look at our exclusive collection of Blume Day T-shirts 👕 from over the years. What's your favorite?
@BKartRed@AshishFafadia@sajithpai@sanjaynath@arpiit@riashroff@saritaraichu@mehtaalok@mitul_am@SeekingN0rth@DeepikaDakuda@gauthamsiv
The perfect season finale! @Neeraj_chopra1 shares his thoughts on the future of Indian sports and what it'll take to produce more champions. Hint: It's not just about infrastructure.
https://t.co/ftGT3uEtbd
Nothing exemplifies "Winning Beyond Boundaries" more than an Olympic Gold medal 🏅
We're ending Season 3 of the Blume Podcast with a bang!
In the 10th and the last episode of this season, Karthik Reddy (@BKartRed) sat down with Olympic Gold medalist, World Champion, and Asia's beacon of excellence in athletics - Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1). 💪
From a small town in Haryana to shattering European dominance in javelin throw, Neeraj's journey perfectly embodies S3's theme of Winning Beyond Boundaries.
In this candid conversation, he opens up about:
• His mischievous childhood & unconventional entry into sports
• The mindset behind handling victories and near-misses
• The Gold medal moment and everything that he did to reach there
• What it takes to compete and win against the best in the world
• His partnership with his coaches and how he trains
• Why he believes children should be allowed to be naughty
A big thanks to Vinay Singhal (@vinaykrsinghal), co-founder of @STAGEdotin, and the entire STAGE team for making this episode happen 🙏 (and for graciously letting us use their beautiful office for many hours on a Saturday). STAGE (a Blume Fund IV company) is revolutionizing the Indian entertainment landscape by bringing authentic regional content to millions. Neeraj is their brand ambassador, a perfect partnership celebrating India's cultural heritage.
Thanks to @IDFCFIRSTBank for being our annual partner.
Watch the story of Neeraj Chopra and discover what’s possible with resilience, confidence, and unshakable self-belief. Or, in Neeraj's words "यही एडवाइस है—खुद पर बिलीव रखो और सही मेहनत करो!”
Watch the full episode here or on YouTube (link in comments).
@BKartRed@AshishFafadia@sajithpai@sanjaynath@arpiit@riashroff@saritaraichu@mehtaalok@mitul_am@SeekingN0rth@DeepikaDakuda@gauthamsiv@vigneshjsarma@adityakuber
PS: On his first day of school, little Neeraj threw his books into a well and went off to play. Who knew this mischievous kid would one day throw a javelin into Olympic history! 😄
Foggy Friday morning last week - Sonipat to Palwal, a giant semi circle drawn around Delhi - destination: Euler Motors Factory 🛻 @EulerMotor
Been 2+ years since doors opened but I missed the team visits and board trips that would take me there.
No regrets. Short of racing the new 4 wheeler, I got to see so much all at once - the tweet from a few years ago is aging well. If one celebrates the young trendy 2W EV companies that have emerged, this is a moment to marvel at what an upstart 3W and 4W cargo (and hey, let’s throw in a passenger variant too) is capable of pulling off in a short period of time. The desi Tesla of small cargo is growing up - first stop Palwal.
My trip coincided with the PM’s remarks at the auto show. Wish they would see that fancy cars aside, this is the urban and transport future that India needs asap. Move all cargo in all Indian cities to electric - and shift some of the pollution load out.
The Eastern Peripheral was a delight - added 10’s of kms but yet chipped off 10’s of minutes over the straight line route through delhi.
Many glimpses of Viksit Bharat in one short half day - though Viksit will come from thinking tangentially and exponentially, not linearly.
Relish the images of what’s coming, from Euler
Hopefully we’ll see a public company version of Euler soon, and everyone can own shares, if not the vehicles.
India's first private satellite constellation by @PixxelSpace showcases the exceptional talent of India's youth and highlights the expanding capabilities of our private sector in the space industry.