Venture debt firm Stride Ventures, which has backed startups such as Sugar Cosmetics, The Good Glamm Group, Mensa Brands, Zepto, Yubi (CredAvenue), announced on Tuesday the elevation of Apoorva Sharma as managing partner from principal.
Sharma joins Ishpreet Singh Gandhi and Abhinav Suri as the managing partners of the Gurugram-based firm.
Prior to joining Stride Ventures in 2019 as a principal, Sharma was associated with The Xander Group, Inc as well as HSBC as an investment banker.
Earlier this month, Stride Ventures announced the first close of its third fund at $100 million (nearly Rs 821 crore). The firm which provides debt to startups in high-growth sectors such as consumer internet, fintech, SaaS, and B2B platforms aims to raise more than $200 million under the fund.
During the same period, it also participated in the $40 million Series B funding round of distribution and logistics platform Ripplr.
Previously, in 2022, it had raised over $200 million for its second venture debt fund.
It has made over 100 startup investments through its first two funds. The firm states to have distributed over 100% of its commitments, including coupon payouts and principal redemptions, to the early investors of its Fund I.
Amid a broader funding slowdown in equity investments, an increasing number of Indian startups have raised debt funding which consequently led to the rise of new venture debt funds.
In the venture debt funding space, Stride operates alongside firms like Singapore-based investment firm Lighthouse Canton, PAG-backed Nuvama Wealth Management, venture debt marketplace 8vdX, Alteria Capital, Trifecta Capital, and alternative credit platform BlackSoil Capital.
