To finish the fund, Stride Ventures hopes to raise an additional $100 million.
Stride Ventures is an Indian financial company situated in New Delhi that was established in 2021. With institutional support, corporate governance, excellent unit economics, and operating cash flows, the company offers financing solutions to Indian enterprises.
Stride Ventures has announced the $100 million first closure of its third fund as the domestic venture finance company looks to take advantage of the expanding venture debt industry in India. This occurs at a time when macroeconomic uncertainty has resulted in a sharp decline in private equity investment.
According to a statement released by the business on May 9, Stride Ventures intends to raise an additional $100 million for the fund’s ultimate closing. Four months after acquiring a licence for the fund, the company was able to raise the money.
For venture capital and venture debt businesses, the first close marks a crucial turning point in the process, after which the funds are deployed.
Venture debt is a financial arrangement in which a lender lends money to a business without diluting its ownership stake. Usually, it is distributed concurrently with an equity offering or within a few months of a round’s conclusion.
Venture debt is a financial arrangement in which a lender lends money to a business without diluting its ownership stake. Usually, it is distributed concurrently with an equity offering or within a few months of a round’s conclusion.
According to Stride Ventures, the Indian venture debt industry is anticipated to invest $3–4 billion annually by 2025. More than 100 businesses from a variety of industries have received funding from the company, including Sugar Cosmetics, The Good Glamm Group, Mensa Brands, Exotel, Yubi, MoneyView, VideoVerse, Miko, Perfios, HealthifyMe, Ace Turtle, and Waycool, among others.
“Stride takes immense pride in being the largest contributor of credit to new age businesses that has sanctioned over approximately Rs 5,000 crore in the Indian startup ecosystem,” said Ishpreet Gandhi, founder and managing partner of Stride Ventures.
“Stride Ventures’ success in providing value to its investors is a testament to our rigorous processes and strong internal governance structures,” Gandhi added.
The company asserted that it had effectively disbursed more than 100 percent of its promises, including principle redemptions and coupon payouts, to the Fund 1’s initial investors.
A diverse group of institutional investors, including banks, insurance companies, and family offices, were said to have supported the third fund, albeit the names of these investors were not disclosed.
According to the business, it would invest through the fund in rapidly expanding startups that have solid business plans, good unit economics, and knowledgeable management teams.
A time when there is a growing need for venture debt in India coincides with the first close of Stride Ventures’ third venture debt fund. Moneycontrol noted that even while overall investment attitude had deteriorated due to rising interest rates, debt firms had invested $312 million, or 11% more, in the first eight months of 2022 than they had in the same period in the previous year.
We observe an increase in the demand for venture loans as businesses try to optimise their capital structures and hold onto equity for next rounds. With the opening of our third fund, we’re in a great position to support Indian entrepreneurs’ specific debt needs as well as their international expansion plans, according to Stride Ventures’ managing partner Apoorva Sharma.
2019 saw the company’s inception, and three funds have been raised so far. A $200 million corpus was used to conclude the venture debt company’s second fund in August of last year.
