Venture debt firm Stride Ventures, which finished fundraising for its third vehicle in May this year missing its initial target, Tuesday said it has launched its fourth flagship vehicle aiming to raise $300 million (over Rs 2,500 crore).
The firm, which has previously backed startups such as BlueStone, Upstox, Moneyview, Ather, Pharmeasy, Infra.Market, and Battery Smart among others, is targeting to raise about 82% higher corpus than its previous fund that it closed at $165 million.
For its previous fund, Stride was initially looking to raise $200 million, but ended with a lower corpus amid a muted market, managing partner Apoorva Sharma had said at the time.
The latest fund will back startups and businesses with ‘tailored financial solutions across diverse sectors and geographies’, Stride said in a statement.
“This milestone is not just about the numbers—it reflects the trust our partners have placed in us and the shared belief in the transformative power of alternative finance in India and beyond,” said Sharma.
The five-year-old firm provides venture debt to startups in high-growth sectors such as consumer internet, finTech, SaaS, and B2B platforms. Usually a supplement to equity financing, venture debt refers to a variety of debt financing products, specifically applicable to venture capital-backed companies.
In 2022, the firm had raised over $200 million for its second flagship venture debt fund that had exceeded target. The debut fund launched in 2019 had raised about $50 million from investors.
The fund also said it has surpassed $1 billion in venture debt commitments. Further, it has returned the capital from its first fund with ‘best performing returns’ to its investors that included banks and high-net worth individuals.
“Crossing the $1 billion milestone is a testament to the strength of India’s startup ecosystem and the growing recognition of venture debt as a powerful enabler,” said Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, founder and managing partner, Stride Ventures.
