BHIVE.fund has solved the current real estate problem, says Raichura
Alternative Investments Wealthtech Platform ‘BHIVE.fund’ said it has recently raised strategic investments for building comprehensive technology to scale operations, building a strong investment team, educating customers on alternative asset space among others.
The fund participants are GruhasProptech, Blume Ventures and other marquee investors. Gruhas was Co-founded by Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha and Abhijeet Pai of Puzzolana and is India’s largest Proptech-focused entity.
Blume Ventures, a leading VC firm in the country today, counts multiple unicorns in its portfolio.
“Nikhil and Abhijeet are big believers that huge disruptions are possible in the commercial real estate space using technology. While not all investors may understand this space well, Abhijeet comes with a wealth of experience and expertise in the commercial real estate sector, having been involved in many large deals,” said Shesh Rao Paplikar, Co-founder & CEO, BHIVE.fund.
“Nikhil, as we all know, is one of the biggest names in the wealth tech space. We are super excited to have them on board as strategic investors as we are looking to make this into something much, much bigger,” he said on 9 May 2022.
‘BHIVE.fund’ was set up in 2021 by Shesh Paplikar, Sandeep Gupta CFA and Monnappa Bayavanda. The platform 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.
“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,” said Sarita Raichura, Vice-President, Blume Ventures.
“We are excited about BHIVE Workspace’s new venture – ‘BHIVE.fund’.
“We continue to believe in the capability of this team to build a robust biz. 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,” Raichura said.
“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,” added Shesh.
“This investment represents a significant milestone towards closing US$1 million of Pre-Series A. We have term sheets and commitments to the ongoing Pre-Series A round which will be closing soon,” said Paplikar.
The round also saw participation from prominent angel investors including Sreeram Reddy Vanga of Kofluence, Leadsquared Founders Nilesh Patel and Prashant Singh, KaziArif Zaman, CFA, Partner at GestAltNetwork 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,” commented Sreeram Reddy Vanga, Investing – Founder, Kofluence.
“A similar model adopted by ‘BHIVE Workspace’ to the broader alternative asset class is set to grow big. I am very happy to come in as an investor and join Shesh& team on their journey,” he said.
BHIVE.fund had, in 2021, raised a seed round from the likes of Madhusudan, Co-founder & CEO of KreditBee, Durgesh Kaushik, Snapchat India and South Asia Head, Alok Bajpai, CFO, Adani Connex, who has also been a constant mentor and support, and others who confirmed their belief in BHIVE’s vision. This US-headquartered company had also seen investment participation from over 10 NRI investors in this round. fiinews.com
