Venture debt registers 12% growth in 2025, says report
The report by Stride Ventures highlighted the growing adoption of venture debt by Indian startups.
Venture debt funding for Indian startups grew 12% in 2025, reaching $1.38 billion across 187 deals, compared to $1.23 billion from 238 transactions in 2024, according to a report.
Stride Ventures, in its report The Global Private Debt Report 2026: A Venture & Growth Credit Lens, highlighted that India’s private debt ecosystem is undergoing a structural shift. Venture debt is now firmly established as a mainstream financing option, while growth credit is emerging as a key driver for late-stage expansion.
In 2025, the average ticket size of venture debt deals stood at $3.5 million and this capital was largely deployed at the Series A and B stages of funding accounting for 60% of the deals and 51% of the capital.
The fintech segment was the top recipient of venture debt at $600 million followed by consumer ($188 million) and cleantech ($108 million).
Geographically, venture debt remains concentrated in India’s leading startup hubs, with Delhi NCR and Bengaluru together accounting for nearly three-fourths of total deployment. This concentration underscores the maturity of these ecosystems in attracting structured capital.
Meanwhile, growth credit is gaining traction as the next institutional layer of financing, particularly for late-stage and private equity-backed companies. Annual deployment reached $1.68 billion across 32 deals, with significantly larger ticket sizes averaging $52 million. Fintech again leads this segment, followed by consumer, B2B, and industrial sectors.
Unlike venture debt, growth credit shows a more distributed geographic footprint across major financial centers, including Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. This reflects its alignment with larger, more mature companies and institutional capital flows.
The report also indicates strong forward momentum. More than 70% of founders expect private debt usage to increase over the next two years, driven by demand for non-dilutive capital, faster execution, and flexible structures. Venture capital investors similarly view debt as a complementary tool for extending runway and supporting capital-efficient growth.
Looking ahead, India’s startup financing landscape is expected to adopt a more integrated model, combining early-stage equity with venture debt, followed by growth equity and growth credit at later stages. This layered capital stack mirrors mature global ecosystems and signals India’s transition toward a more institutionalised funding environment.
Edited by Megha Reddy