Plasma Ventures

Plasma Ventures is a flexible-mandate venture firm engaged in private equity, venture capital investments, social impact ventures, public-private collaborations, board governance, consulting, and advisory services. The firm adheres to its investment philosophy of making non-controlling minority investments by offering patient capital, strategic consulting, and advisory services to operationally scale portfolio companies.

“Although we did not start out as thematic investors, over time our focus has been in AI/ML, Data analytics, Blockchain and Web3.0 especially for B2B enterprise plays. We identify and support exceptional founding teams to realize and capture value through long-term patient capital, mentoring, and coaching to level skill gaps. Our deep ecosystem and vendor ties built over the years give them quick access to markets, vendors, and additional capital or talent a growing startup would require,” says Burhan Jaffer, Founder and Managing Partner, Plasma Ventures.

Unlike many venture capitalists that build large investment opportunity pipelines, make multiple investments, and spread the risk, Plasma Ventures follows a concentrated approach. It makes only 4-5 select investments each year, narrowing down a slate 10 to 12 investable opportunities down from over a hundred startups. This helps it provide exceptional attention, support, and guidance to all investments.

Plasma Ventures’ approach to investment has helped it excel in a capital feast to famine economy. Before investing, it spends substantial time understanding the business model and examining if the investee has successfully converted their innovative idea into a viable product-market-fit with good unit economics, sustainable business model with line of sight to consistent financial performance.

In addition, Plasma Ventures brings domain and operational expertise as a strategic advisor to the businesses it invests in. in the form of full stack technology development, subject matter experts, operating experience from large F-500 organisations and a range of support services (talent acquisition, HR, , finance, and legal) to relieve budding and scaling startups from operational hiccups along the way.

In terms of capital, Plasma Ventures delivers patient capital in the form of straight-up equity, convertible preferred financing, or debt financing.

“We see startups and entrepreneurs struggling because they often don’t have the resources or skillset to convert a great innovation into a durable business model. That’s where experience from a venture firm like us comes in. Because we get involved without micromanaging our investee, we can guide them on how to remain more focused in execution and quickly achieve the product, solution, and market fit to scale,” adds Jaffer.

For instance, if Plasma Ventures invests in a blockchain, AI, or machine learning startup, it identifies and maps target clients or partners relevant for a go-to-market strategy. It often leverages its network to facilitate interactions and introductions. This is a crucial differentiator as it helps fast-track execution instead of cold-calling potential clients.

“We always go by our philosophy of making non-controlling minority investments by offering patient capital, strategic consulting, and advisory services to operationally scale and grow portfolio companies,” says Jaffer. “We focus our capabilities on investing in disruptive, exponential technologies across transformative industries and economies.” The firm also collaborates with numerous social impact projects, ranging from sustainability, circular economies, and resilient ecosystems to social justice and public safety.

Over the years, Plasma ventures has provided startups with the tools and community necessary to grow and master their businesses. Through its cohort accelerator, it has made its mark as the provider of seed capital, a mentor network, access to industry leaders, and an entrepreneurial work environment for early-stage companies.

Plasma Ventures is now launching a new $100M fund focussing on the twin themes of Food/Ag Tech and Circular Economies. The new fund is called Aleph Venture Platform and is currently in stealth mode, raising capital and building global partnerships for innovation hubs.