[Funding Alert] Stride Ventures Raises INR 85 Cr From SIDBI The funds received from SIDBI will be used to strengthen the deployment of the firm's maiden fund, Stride Venture India Debt Fund I
By Prabhjeet Bhatla •
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New Delhi-based venture debt fund Stride Ventures has raised INR 85 crore from Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). The funds received from SIDBI will strengthen the deployment of the firm's maiden fund Stride Venture India Debt Fund I, which marked its first close in November 2019 and is expected to close by the end of the year.
The platform is focused on providing debt solutions to growth stage start-ups; provide them with debt solutions and enabling them to strategically allocate capital. The fund further helps its portfolio companies leverage the banking ecosystem.
"SIDBI's commitment to the fund corroborates Stride's strong performance as well as the immense growth potential of the asset class. In spite of the challenges brought upon by the pandemic, we have been extremely active in deploying capital and have successfully completed 7 deals during this period. Further, we have seen no delinquencies or delays in our portfolio. We are excited to partner with SIDBI as we look to maintain this momentum and finish the year strongly," remarked Stride Ventures founder and managing partner Ishpreet Gandhi, in a statement.
The firm is focused on short-term credit solutions that are tailor-made to meet the requirements of different businesses. The average ticket size in each deal is INR 15 crore.
"We are seeing good revenue momentum in growth stage start-ups going beyond pre-COVID levels thereby increasing the need for working capital which remains the core thesis of our fund. SIDBI's commitment will help us accelerate our support to these exciting businesses to achieve their potential," added Stride Ventures managing partner Abhinav Suri.
The company recently announced investments in SUGAR cosmetics, a rapidly growing color cosmetics brand, and Miko, a leading robotics company. Other investments from the fund include Stellapps, HomeLane, Ziploan, LetsTransport, among others.
