[Funding alert] Venture debt firm Stride Ventures raises Rs 85 Cr from SIDBI

Venture debt firm Stride Ventures announced on Thursday, November 12 that it has raised Rs 85 crore from Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). According to a statement issued by Stride Ventures, the funds will help the firm strengthen the deployment of its maiden fund — Stride Venture India Debt Fund I.

Founder and Managing Partner Ishpreet Gandhi said:

"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 seven 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.”

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Stride Ventures was founded in July 2019 by Ishpreet, after receiving clearance from SEBI. Fund Managers Ishpreet and Abhinav Suri are former bankers, holding senior position across relationship management and credit in CITI, Yes Bank and IDFC, among others.

Managing Partner Abhinav said, "We are seeing good revenue momentum in growth stage startups going beyond pre-COVID-19 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”

Stride Venture is sector agnostic and invest in growth-stage VC-backed startups. It focuses on short-term credit solutions that are customised to meet the requirements of a particular business. It's average tickets size is Rs 15 crore.

Stride has so far invested in 10 companies, and plans to add up to 30 more startups in its portfolio for Stride Venture India Debt Fund I, which marked its first close last November. The fund is in the last stage of its final close.

Some of Stride's portfolio companies are Stellapps, HomeLane, Ziploan, and LetsTransport. It recently invested in cosmetics brand SUGAR Cosmetics and robotics startup Miko.