Nikhil Kamath backs BHIVE.fund

BHIVE.fund, the wealthtech platform that offers individual investors an opportunity to invest in a safe high-return asset class earlier not available to them like commercial real estate, business investments and international real estate, has raised strategic investments from Gruhas Proptech, Blume Ventures, and other marquee investors.

BHIVE’s asset classes offer very good risk adjusted returns and also provide monthly income. The monthly income thus generated allows financial freedom and security to individual investors.

Gruhas was co-founded by Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha and Abhijeet Pai of Puzzolana and is India’s largest proptech-focussed entity. Blume Ventures, a leading VC firm in the country today, counts multiple unicorns in its portfolio.

“Kamath brothers are the most successful & the biggest inspiration for all of us in the startup ecosystem. They command the highest respect in the industry. Having Nikhil back us at this stage is a big boost for us and a great validation for our business model“ says Shesh Rao Paplikar, Co-founder and CEO, BHIVE.fund.

Set up in 2021 by Shesh Rao Paplikar, Sandeep Gupta and Monnappa Bayavanda, BHIVE.fund has already achieved product-market fit and has reached a sales run rate of a million dollars per month. Through the tech-driven platform, they enable individual investors to invest in business opportunities, domestic commercial real estate, and international real estate.

The tech platform is also available as an app on both Android and Apple with the name 'BHIVE Real Estate & Alts'. The app gives users the flexibility to go through all the live opportunities and evaluate the ones that best fit their risk-return profile. This is targeted to enable investors to make their own wealth allocation decisions.

“We invested in ‘BHIVE Workspace’ through Blume Fund II in 2015. We have been closely working with Shesh and team, and have been witness to the grit and resilience the team has shown through the pandemic. We are excited about ‘BHIVE Workspace' new venture – BHIVE.fund. We continue to believe in the capability of this team to build a robust business. They have evolved to be solving the current real estate problem and are building a scalable business in an ever-growing commercial real estate market in India,” says Sarita Raichura, Vice-President, Blume Ventures.

“Blume Ventures has always been a very big supporter of us. They were the key investors of our previous startup which is into coworking. By making independent investment into our fintech entity ‘BHIVE.fund’, they have shown great faith in the founders and the vision we have for the platform,” says Shesh.

“This investment represents a significant milestone towards closing $1 million of Pre-series A. We have term sheets and commitments to the ongoing Pre-series A round which will be closing soon,” he adds.

The round also saw participation from prominent angel investors including Sreeram Reddy Vanga of Kofluence, Leadsquared founders Nilesh Patel and Prashant Singh, Kazi Arif Zaman, CFA, Partner at GestAlt Network and former MD of Everstone Capital, partner of a prominent California VC firm, and NRIs from the US.

“I have always been a big believer in Commercial Real Estate as an investment class. Technology is disrupting this segment and will bring in more investors through a fractional real estate mechanism. A similar model adopted by ‘BHIVE Workspace’ to the broader alternative asset class is set to grow. I am very happy to come in as an investor and join Shesh and team on their journey,” says Sreeram Reddy Vanga, Investing-Founder, Kofluence.

BHIVE.fund had, in 2021, raised a seed round from the likes of Madhusudan, Co-founder and CEO of KreditBee; Durgesh Kaushik, Sr. Director, Coinbase (Former MD Snapchat India, South Asia); Alok Bajpai, CFO, Adani Connex, who has also been a constant mentor and support, and others who confirmed their belief in BHIVE’s vision. The US-headquartered company had also seen investment participation from over 10 NRI investors in this round.

The company plans to leverage the funds for building comprehensive technology to scale operations, building a strong investment team, and educating customers on the alternative asset space.