Venture Capital Job – Associate/AVP – Blume Ventures

Blume Ventures (www.blume.vc) is one of India’s leading early-stage Venture Capital firms. We invest quite early on in a startup’s journey and walk alongside them as they grow from “Unknowns to Unicorns”. Our investment approach is a balance between data-driven, research-backed decisions based on industry trends, and drawing from our collective years of experience as investors, operators, ex-entrepreneurs and domain experts. We believe in the power of technology, and invest in companies that have the potential to solve big problems at scale in sectors such as deeptech, fintech, healthcare, edtech, mobility, consumer and lifestyle, among others. Some of our marquee investments include Unacademy, Spinny, Grey Orange Robotics, Purplle, ElectricPe, Dunzo, HealthifyMe, Classplus, Ultrahuman, Pixxel, and CarbonClean.

We are currently investing from our flagship fund IV, our biggest ever, to back the next wave of revolutionary founders and ventures. We are seeing bigger dreams, and bigger ambitions in these new founders, in larger numbers than ever before. They are targeting bigger problems and bigger opportunities, inspired and motivated by the first wave of success stories that are unfolding more rapidly now out of the Indian startup ecosystem. We wholeheartedly believe that the Venture Capital business is – first and foremost – a people’s business. We choose to invest in our people with equal focus, knowing that an exceptional team is critical to our success.

As we approach our Fund V, we are looking to add to our Investment Team and bring on someone to work on all things Frontier Tech, and who is excited about the possibility of futuristic technologies to change the world.

We wholeheartedly believe in the ability of technology to change the world for good, and are looking for our next Investment team member who is committed to helping us leverage technology for the greater good. Today we are looking at innovation and rapid development in the fields of biotechnology, drones, semiconductors, robotics, new energy, genomics, green industrial technology and several other areas. The entrepreneurship landscape in frontier technologies is evolving rapidly. Combining various technologies can create new business models and applications that were not previously possible.

We are looking for a strong addition to the Investment team who will work with Arpit Agarwal, Investment Partner at Blume Ventures, and take our portfolio and pipeline in these areas to the next level. The candidate will work in the following areas:

AREAS OF FOCUS

• Biotech, healthtech, robotics, advanced materials, semiconductors, drones, green technology and so on

ROLE

We will hire either an Associate or an AVP for this role.

• Based on the candidate’s background, the role will begin with a combination of building deep research-backed conviction through thesis and research reports on the space, as well as sourcing a pipeline of entrepreneurs/stealth founders building businesses in these areas through partnerships with incubators and early stage funds across India.

• The role will also require managing the current portfolio of deeptech, healthtech, robotics companies and working closely with the founders and Blume team to drive their growth and sustainability.

• Based on the candidate’s performance, after 2-3 years they would have the ability to manage a small pool of capital independently to make investments in this space. This is contingent upon their long-term commitment to Blume and their alignment with Blume’s investment philosophy, founder approach and overall vision.

This role will be a great fit for you if you have:

• Solid fundamentals of undergraduate level science, one with which one can quickly build an understanding of advanced scientific concepts, plus having hands-on experience in one scientific area (say, biotechnology or semiconductors) allowing you to replicate the patterns in other areas.

• Experience working with these technologies from a business perspective, say a role in corporate development or program management in larger companies that proves your capability to translate impact of new technologies in myriad business contexts. Some degree of global experience is positive, though not a must have.

  • Pure product development or deep research profiles may not be the best fit here as experience suggests such people struggle to quickly context switch into other areas.

• Our business is eventually about empathy for the founder and managing multiple stakeholders. Understanding of technology quickly goes in the background once you start managing a company. Hence, the most successful candidates would have an ability to navigate conflicting priorities and strong interpersonal and communication skills.

• 5+ years experience in a large company in the fields of biotech, semiconductors, medtech, pharma, material engineering, semiconductor etc areas

• Prior experience as a founder or working closely with early-stage founders in these fields would be a bonus

• A day as a VC involves an ability to context switch several times a day. Hence, the ability to multitask is a must have.

• Storytelling and narrative-creation skills that will help you build Blume Portfolio narratives

• An obsessive eye for detail, with a decent understanding of data visualization to be able to showcase company growth journeys

• Reasonable mastery of quantitative and qualitative analytical skills, including financial modeling and business writing.

Above all – the job will be perfect for you if you have an inherent passion for deep technologies and are eager to explore how they can impact large industries in a meaningful manner. This role will require deep research and technical foundations, but also allow for applying business and commercial lenses, and allow you to bring the two together to create a new wave of Frontier Tech to solve some of our big problems.

Research shows that while men apply to jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other marginalized folks tend only to apply when they check every box. So if you think you have what it takes, but don’t necessarily meet every point on the job description, please still get in touch. We’d love to have a chat and see if you could be a great fit!

YOU ARE:

• Excited at the opportunity to make impact at scale

• At heart, a catalyst – someone who wants to use all of their skills to help Blume’s startups succeed and grow

• Comfortable with the idea of working in an Apprenticeship model – with lots of mentorship, feedback and guidance but significant individual responsibility and freedom

• An inherent hustler, focusing on ‘closing the deal’ and doing whatever it takes

• Looking for the opportunity to work in a fast-growing company that is committed to providing support, growth and professional development as part of everyday work

• Not limited by a job description and designation, and open to the unique opportunity of working across functions at India’s leading early stage VC fund and charting your own learning journey

• Eager to work with some of the best minds in Indian VC and build a long term career, limited only by your own aspirations

• Highly comfortable with deadlines, and managing multiple projects simultaneously

WHAT IT’S LIKE TO WORK AT BLUME

While we’re 13 years old this year, in some ways we are still building Blume from the ground up. We rely strongly on a First Principles approach, and that means questioning the way things were done before. VC is first and foremost a relationship-driven business, so we do prioritise a positive interaction with everyone we meet.

We have a decentralised leadership that is committed to helping Blume grow in the right way. This may mean sometimes that you get five different answers to one question – the right person will see this as an opportunity rather than a roadblock in figuring out their next steps. Our team has high ownership and high expectations – we fully understand that we may not always be able to control the outcomes of certain situations, and therefore review success also in terms of our inputs – did we do everything possible we could from our side to make something happen?

This approach isn’t for everyone, especially if you’ve been used to clearer frameworks, targets, single-threaded reporting, and working with relatively fewer inputs. But for someone who understands the end goal, the process and journey along the way is a wonderfully positive challenge that does push you to grow personally and professionally.

• We’re looking for owners and entrepreneurs first, not job-seekers. The work you do will have peaks and troughs, and you’ll need to find the motivation to pull through these. We’re always all-hands-on-deck, and love folks who can figure out answers, test, iterate, and experiment fast enough, and who understand that all feedback is ultimately good and helpful feedback.

HOW TO APPLY:

• The level of the role (Associate or AVP) will be decided after the initial rounds of interviews and will be based on your past experience + what you’re looking for with a career at Blume. We encourage you to apply and go through the process first with an open mind.

• To apply, please send your resume with a short note explaining how you meet the above criteria, and a 1-pager identifying one company in this space you would recommend Blume invest in to strengthen our frontier tech portfolio.

• Please fill out this form by November 30th. Please note that emails sent to the Blume team separately outside of this form may not be reviewed, we appreciate your cooperation in helping us streamline the process.

• The first cohort of applications received by November 30th will receive a response by December 10th on the status and next steps.

Please email questions about this role to Ria Shroff Desai, Lead – People & Culture (ria@blume.vc)