Commerce Ventures

Bold. Brave. Brilliant. Brazen. The founders we back are all this, and more. They are unreasonable, they are crazy ambitious, obsessed with solving hard, gnarly problems. Problems whose solutions transform lives and impact society. And, it takes a revolutionary founder, and a transformational company to solve these problems, and effect change. We back these transformational companies, and their revolutionary founders early, and remain lifelong partners. How does Blume evaluate early stage startups? In our framework, we look at three criteria to evaluate startups – size of market or opportunity, team quality and finally, investability or probability of the next round of capital. Our approximate weightage for Opportunity : Team : Investability is 40 : 40 : 20. Let us double click on these three criteria. Market size or opportunity: Pick too small a market and even the best team can’t build a large scalable business. The best founders know how to reshape a market opportunity and build solutions to fit the largest of the market opportunities. That said, one has to begin with the aggregate opportunity being very large. For example, are Ola and Uber a ride hailing app or a large scale urban transportation business? The market size expands 5-10x when the latter is applied. At Blume, we try to find a portfolio balance between founders who can chase a large market opportunity domestically or build a tech-led differentiated product for global markets (which increase Founding teams: These are the most important variables for us or even most VCs at our stage. In every decision, once the other two factors are seen as a go, the clincher element in a yes/no decision boils down to the founding team – their expertise in solving for this space, as well as the integrity, mission, passion and persistence that one can gauge at this early stage of business. Investability or probability of next rounds of capital: The reality of how the later stage funding market is shaped to take risky bets in the ecosystem is important to consider while funding, especially in young and concentrated ecosystems like India, and that’s why we attribute 20% weightage to this element in India. We force ourselves to evaluate how much capital may be required to build to exitable scale and how challenging it is to raise that capital. As the funding ecosystem matures, we may shrink weightage of this in the future. Great founders overcome all of this but if we can select such that we have better odds at the starting point, why not? The above framework helps us shortlist but finally, it is a (increasingly improving) trained gut call that ends up building out the portfolio. What is Blume's investment criteria? Blume prefers ventures that have achieved some degree of customer validation, where the product is already launched in market and we are getting customer signups and feedback. We do make exceptions on the above for seasoned operators and second-time founders, but typically with first-time founders, we do not do idea stage or pre-MVP investments. If you are a B2B startup or an ecommerce / consumer transaction play, an annualised revenue rate (or revenues) of $375k (₹3cr) and above is a good milestone to reach out to us. If you are a marketplace startup, then reach out to us when you are nearing or have crossed a monthly GMV of ₹50 lacs a month. If you are a consumer app that isn't monetising yet, then ping us when you near or cross MAUs of 25k / DAUs of 5k. The above are broad guidelines, and not hard rules. We do make exceptions. If in doubt, reach out! How much does Blume invest? We are a seed / pre-Series A fund. While we are fairly flexible on the investment quantum, typically we have seen our investments range across from $1.5 to $3m (₹12 to 24 crs). We do optimise however for a stake of anywhere from 12 to 20%. These stake requirements reflect the depth and extent of support we provide to the startup – from fundraising and hiring to business development etc. We also anticipate the rounds of dilution that every successful startup will undergo, and the desired holding that we need to hold at the point of exit. Does Blume invest in international startups? We invest in startups that are Indian at heart or origin, but are willing to conquer the world market if needed to build scale. About a third of our portfolio is of this nature – taking Indian engineering skills to build products for global markets. Unfortunately, We DO NOT invest in startups that are international and have NO strong Indian connection / founders. We are also strong believers that to invest as a ‘generalist tech VC’ as we are, we need to be more and more focussed on a particular geography. We need to see as much of the available annual pipeline to know that we’ve truly picked 10 great founders / startups to invest in. We have no such advantage when we are looking outside the country; which is why we stay away from the temptation of looking at pipeline from international markets. What kind of sectors does Blume invest in? With our new Fund, our fourth since inception, we are looking to invest about 60-65% of the new fund in domestic-heavy sectors such as healthcare, financial services, commerce and brands, jobs and education, and digital media and gaming. The other 35-40% of the fund will focus on SaaS, and DeepTech (including CleanTech, manufacturing, blockchain) companies, typically in B2B, that can innovate and engineer with local talent pools, and yet scale globally. Does Blume have a preference between B2B and B2C? We like both. India is a consumer market that is poised to explode, as people move to the digital economy to spend an increasingly larger share of their wallet’s purchasing power. That makes it attractive to build a strong consumer proposition in India. And thus our B2C portfolio. We are also now very good at taking our science and engineering skills in software and other areas, and building commercial applications at scale, often for the global market. These constitute the majority of B2B ideas in our portfolio and we like this space a lot. Where do I send my pitch? How do I reach out to Blume? We get anywhere between 4,000 to 5,000 ideas pitched to us annually, across the team, across all formats. This includes referrals, cold mails, DMs on social channels etc. We have given up counting :) We invest in about 10-12 of these per year. As Blume has grown, we've looked at the empirical data and discovered that the vast majority of our investments were referrals from our contacts in the ecosystem. You can count the exceptions to this rule with one hand in every cycle, and still have a few fingers to spare! These referrals come from our own founders we have backed, other founders who know that we will do right by their angel investments and our extensive set of friends, investors and well wishers in the ecosystem. The exceptions, while not impossible, are indeed rare. Ceteris paribus (all things considered), you are better off reaching us through a trusted common friend. In a highly networked startup ecosystem, it is not that hard to reach us through the strongest possible mutual connection. But if that is not possible, do reach out to us cold. Your email will certainly be read, even if it is not always responded to. We have ensured that our internal systems catch every pitch - cold or warm or hot. When writing in cold, a considered and researched mail (much like a quality college application) is the only way to attempt such a reach out. Please check out the team page, find the best person in the Investment team who has invested in and / or covers the sector you're building in. Do check out their social profiles (LinkedIn, Twitter) to access their contact info. Our email ids are not hard to guess as well! Preferably write to one person at a time, in the firm. The above are good principles for you irrespective of which firm you approach / pitch to. Nothing works better than a warm, referred introduction - it always gets the rightful attention. Please note that we have done away with a pitch form, or a common email id. From our experience, we found that the volume of inbound traffic was indeed high, but not always relevant, and thus almost impossible to assign a resource to just monitor these inbound gates.

We invest in promising financial technology, commerce and infrastructure startups and provide them with access to the resources, relationships and deep industry expertise they need to grow and succeed. PayPal Ventures is the global corporate venture arm of PayPal. We invest for financial return, in companies at the forefront of innovation in fintech, commerce enablement, digital infrastructure, and crypto/blockchain technologies. Through the expertise, experience, and vast network of PayPal Ventures – and the companies we invest in – we are helping to bring transformative solutions to market faster. Why partner with PayPal Ventures?Trusted Brand PayPal is a global digital payments platform and one of the most dynamic and valuable brands in the world. Companies that choose PayPal Ventures benefit from the credibility that comes with being backed by one of the world’s most trusted brands, supporting engagement with customers, partners, regulators, and other investors. Global Experts in Payments A seasoned team of specialists across PayPal, with years of relevant experience, will be at your fingertips to help navigate payments, credit and other product choices, technical decisions, regulatory complexity, and how to scale your business into new sectors and markets. Ventures The PayPal Ventures team draws from the deep collective experience of PayPal to connect the dots in ways that others cannot and we utilize this knowledge and insight to help our portfolio companies navigate their own journeys. Given that we are a financial investor with a corporate support network, PayPal Ventures is uniquely structured to help you grow your business and tackle your biggest challenges.

As a Zone for Great Minds, from our Limited Partners, Management Team, our Partners, to the startup founders we invest, ThinkZone gathers Great Entrepreneurs who have Great Visions, to create Great Values for the society, and the capability to make their visions come true. Non-cash Investments We provide startups with non-cash investments via our ThinkZone Accelerator, the accelerator program with the largest scale of support value in Vietnam. 3-month mentoring & coaching Fundraising support Partnership connection with big corporates $300,000+ support packages value in terms of sales & marketing, cloud services Cash Investment ThinkZone Ventures focuses on Seed to Series A tech startups from diverse verticals, with investments size up to $3,000,000. We also invest in accelerator-stage startups via ThinkZone Accelerator, with investment size ranging from $50,000 to $100,000.

The most powerful ideas, companies, and industries aren’t created overnight. With a community built on collective experience and fueled by curiosity, Slow understands the entrepreneurial journey. Investing at the center of technology and on the edges of science, society, and culture, Slow gives curious founders the resources, connections, experiences, and empathy required to build strong, sustainable companies. We are generalists and invest in early stage teams and ideas ranging from Social Networking to Consumer Brands to SaaS, and Crypto. We believe - and have seen proven time and again - that great things frequently take time to inflect, and believe that our number-one job is to back great founders on their journey. In the last ~decade we have invested in the earliest rounds of over 500 companies, including… Consumer-Ish Nextdoor Private social network for your neighborhood Hipcamp Discover and book the best campsites in California Postmates Same day urban delivery platform Birchbox Subscription commerce for beauty products Allbirds Environmentally friendly footwear. Casper Digitally introduced brand of mattresses. Birdies Fashionable women’s slippers. BarkBox Subscription commerce for dogs Even Interest-free credit to keep your paycheck steady. Citizen People protect each other Good Dog Find puppies from responsible breeders. Fintech-Y Robinhood Mobile stock brokerage Venmo Social payment app Teamshares employee ownership for small business. Eco One balance to save, spend, and make money HM Bradley Unlock your money’s potential VGS Payment data security & compliance infrastructure Human Interest 401(ks) for SMBs Astra The Automation Platform for Money Movement Wax Insurance Protect your passion SaaS-Ie Airtable Modern database software. Domino Data Lab Enterprise data science platform. Frontapp Customer management platform Tonkean Next generation management platform. Otter AI-powered voice translation app. OpenPhone Mobile app for a business phone number Slack Work messaging Amplio Risk prediction & component sourcing Consumer-Medical-Ish Ro Direct-to-consumer telehealth. Livongo Health Personalized Tools for Chronic Condition Management Plume Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy From Anywhere Pillpack Simplified Pharmacy Fairsquare Medical Your Medicare One-Stop-Shop Wheel powering virtual care Brightside online treatment for depression and anxiety Embark Dog DNA & health testing Flossy For patients without dental insurance Creator-Y Juice Banking trusted by the best creators Stem distribution and payments for musicians Human DAOs lead by creators Pearpop creator collaboration on demand Real-World-Ish Astra Lower cost rocket launches. Common Technology-enabled residential operator. Running Tide Automated ocean harvesting technologies. Zipline Global on-demand delivery. Metropolis mobile commerce and modern parking Pollen Own your network Crypto Solana Scalable blockchain infrastructure. Klaytn The Ground for All Blockchain Services Chia A new blockchain and smart transaction platform Aleo Where Applications Become Private. Algorand A pure proof of stake blockchain platform. Diem A trusted and innovative financial network. Ampleforth The rebasing currency. Lightning Labs layer-two bitcoin. Fold Wallet Bitcoin wallet. River The best place to buy, sell BTC And Many More….

EMVC is innovating the “strategic seed” category. We invest in early-stage companies that are driving accelerated innovation and local growth in India and that have relevance globally. Our cross-border fund is led by a team of passionate investors and industry leaders with a track record success and a deep understanding of the trends and technologies that are disrupting the status quo in India and the world. Our Unique Approach EMVC is focused on financial services and adjacent technologies in India that are “leapfogging” developed markets and driving the massive transformation that’s underway in the world’s fastest-growing consumer economy. Our approach is simple: We get hands-on to support the very best entrepreneurs who are dedicated to building the new economy for the next billion digitally-empowered users, helping founders connect and grow with the most relevant international leaders and corporations in the world. We are a mix between startup lab, corporate VC, and strategy shop. We believe in results over hype and empowering brilliant minds with capital and connectivity. We help scale hyper-local context and global collaboration in sectors on the cusp of change.NEXT GENERATION PAYMENTS FINTECH & DATA INFRASTRUCTURE SAVINGS, INVESTMENTS, & PERSONAL FINANCE INSURTECH SMALL BUSINESS 2.0 DECENTRALIZED ECONOMY DIGITAL TOOLS FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS NEXT-WAVE FINANCIAL INCLUSION

NAB Ventures is a global initiative supporting entrepreneurs in Australia and offshore in their quest to build leading technology companies. Our partners have founded, led, and invested in technology companies for two decades in both Australia and the US. Investment themes NAB Ventures invest in innovative technologies and business models that address themes core to NAB’s strategic priorities outlined below. NAB Ventures will leverage NAB’s core capabilities, driving customer insights and solutions via its deep understanding of customer data along with the inherent bank capabilities of trust, security and identity management. Connected business Provide a 'connected' experience for small and medium businesses. Technologies that help small and medium business customers manage all of their financial needs (including banking, tax, invoicing, and payroll) at every stage of their journey. Specialist offerings in health and agribusiness are of particular interest. Home ownership Support retail customers through the full home ownership journey Leap – help customers find and secure a property Land – make it easy for customers to reach settlement Live – provide insights and tools to manage all aspects of home ownership Cashless world Build easier, faster, richer payments for customers. Technologies to enhance credit and debit card offerings and support our customers in fully embracing and benefiting from new innovations such as digital wallets, real time payments, and blockchain-enabled solutions. Empowered investment Help customers build, monitor and manage wealth. Disruptive solutions for wealth management (including deposits, property, equities, funds and super), to help customers achieve better investment outcomes. Industry focus areas (vertical) AgTech Asset and wealth management FinTech InsurTech Payments and commerce PropTech RegTech Industry focus areas (horizontal) Alternative lending/credit Blockchain technology Core banking technology Cybersecurity Data and AI/ML Digital Enterprise SaaS Investment process NAB Ventures understands that leading technologies are funded quickly. We have developed streamlined internal investment processes to match the speed of high-growth ventures. Investee companies can go from a signed term sheet to investment close in as little as four weeks.