Blume launches Arka Venture Labs, B2B startups to bloom under accelerator platform

Investors are once again attempting to establish a synergy between Indian and US startup ecosystem. This time, it is not related to just funding but incubation and aimed at facilitating the cross-border growth of startups.

Blume Ventures has taken a lead in the segment and joined hands with Silicon Valley-based Benhamou Global Ventures (BGV) and Emergent Ventures to launch the accelerator platform Arka Venture Labs.

Besides, the accelerator platform is structured as a venture capital fund and dedicated to B2B startups.

With a corpus of about Rs 40 crore, the platform will anchor the investment with all the three funds. It has already achieved its first close.

The offering for startups is very high. Arka Venture Labs plans to provide seed and pre-seed capital of up to $200,000 for startups in the B2B space. Besides offering mentorship and infrastructure, it will give access to the Silicon Valley ecosystem that will be critical in scaling up B2B startups in global developed markets.

The accelerator platform will focus on tech-focused B2B startups in areas of retail, supply chain, robotics, artificial intelligence, big data and analytics amongst others.

India has the third-highest number of startup incubators and accelerator in the world after China and the US, says a Nasscom and Zinnov report.

The number is, however, still far behind compared to China and the US. While India has 140 such incubators and accelerators, China and the US boast of high numbers -- 2,400 and 1,500, respectively.

In the past year, local startup ecosystem has witnessed rising interests from US-based companies and funds.

Last September, US-based data storage and management company NetApp onboarded six B2B Indian startups as a part of its first startup accelerator cohort.

Besides, various state governments in India are also paying a strong attention towards supporting startups under their accelerator programmes.

Early this year, Kerala government launched ‘Kerala Accelerator Program’ to promote revenue making startups across the country.

The development was first reported by ET.