Stride Ventures partners with PIF to deploy $200M in Saudi Arabia
The partnership makes the venture capital firm the first Indian-headquartered fund to be backed by the Public Investment Fund.
Stride Ventures on Friday said it has partnered with Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, as it looks to add a series of sovereign and global investors onto its broader platform.
Under this partnership, the firm will deploy $200 million in the country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem over the next two years. This is part of the firm’s larger plan to deploy $1 billion globally across venture debt, growth credit, and private credit strategies.
The venture capital firm, that has invested in Indian companies like Ather Energy, Zepto, and Bluestone, has since its inception in 2019, expanded from domestic debt to a global platform with an on-ground presence across India, GCC, UK, and Europe.
Stride has deployed over $1.6 billion in credit across 200 portfolio companies, which includes 20 unicorns. The firm added that it evaluates more than 15,000 companies globally. The firm invests in startups through seven funds that are supported by sovereign-backed strategies and diversified investor base.
The VC firm has worked on building an international presence through locally anchored partnership-first model. It works closely with regulators, policymakers, and ecosystem partners across markets from Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in India and the Abu Dhabi Global Market, to help develop private debt ecosystems tailored to each region.
This partnership with PIF’s Jada Fund of Funds as well as Stride’s collaboration with SAB Invest to expand private credit deployment in Saudi Arabia is expected to benchmark its position as a global private credit manager out of India, the firm said.
Edited by Megha Reddy