StrideOne raises Rs 100 Cr, appoints Rajesh Sud as co-founder

StrideOne, a tech-enabled NBFC that provides finance for MSMEs, has raised Rs 100 crore funding through a combination of equity and debt. The firm has also appointed Rajesh Sud as co-founder and chairman.

The capital will be used to expand enterprise anchor programmes, partner-lender network, technology, and risk infrastructure, the company said in a statement. It will also be used as capital buffers to enable MSME credit growth.

StrideOne provides short-term, structured working capital solutions and receivables management services to MSMEs.

Following the funding and leadership appointment, the firm aims for the next stage of institutional scale, strengthened governance, and balance-sheet growth.

Co-founder and chairman Rajesh Sud has spent a large part of his career in the financial services sector. He was the founding member and later the CEO & managing director of Axis Max Life Insurance for nearly two decades. He has also served as the chairman of Niva Bupa Health Insurance and as managing director of financial services at Bharti Enterprises, where he oversaw Bharti AXA Life Insurance and Bharti AXA General Insurance. He also served on the board of Airtel Payments Bank. Earlier in his career, he held leadership roles at Bank of America and ANZ Bank.

Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, Founder, StrideOne, said, “The capital raise and Rajesh joining us co-Founder in the journey are pivotal moments as we build StrideOne into a scaled MSME credit platform. His experience will bring institutional resilience and momentum to our platform, strengthening both our processes and innovation as we grow.”

StrideOne Co-founder and Chairman Sud said, “After nearly 34 years of helping build large financial institutions, I wanted to return to what excites me most: building again, this time as an entrepreneur.

"StrideOne has built a differentiated platform combining proprietary technology, a dual on-book and off-book lending model, and a growing receivables management business focused on the structural working capital needs of Indian MSMEs.”