Indian Startup StrideOne unlocks stellar growth within just 6 months of inception

StrideOne introduced a startup led credit distribution model for their supply chains

Crossed AUM mark of 200 Crores in just 6 months of inception across more than 20 anchor companies

StrideOne, a tech-led financial services platform for startups, from the founders of India’s award-winning venture debt fund Stride Ventures, has raised INR 250 crores via a mix of equity (led by Elevar Equity) and debt (including top Indian banks). The fast-growing company focuses on providing smartly designed customized financial solutions to MSMEs and supply chain partners of startups (anchors).

This enables a win-win distribution model that provides access to intelligently customized growth capital for MSMEs and also enables risk-efficient penetration into untapped borrower segments for StrideOne’s lending partners. StrideOne’s vision is to empower growth and scale in the Indian startup ecosystem and it plans to create more products that impact both credit and non-credit need gaps for startups and MSMEs alike.

Elevar Equity invests early-stage capital in entrepreneurs delivering essential products & services to underserved customer segments across India and Latin America. The teams at Elevar and StrideOne found alignment in the unique credit distribution model designed to address the capital demand of startup supply chains, an MSME segment that remains deeply overlooked and underserved.

In addition to the fundraising, StrideOne has unlocked tremendous growth momentum, becoming profitable within just 6 months of operations and accumulating an AUM of INR 200 Cr across more than 20 anchor companies.

StrideOne leverages its team’s expertise and deep-rooted understanding of the startup (anchor) ecosystem’s financing need gaps and their data on business performance and cash flows. Doing so has enhanced StrideOne’s risk efficiency, and the anchor-led approach to lending has kept the customer acquisition cost at zero – giving the company a significant advantage.

On top of the uber-efficient credit models, StrideOne offers an end-to-end digitized experience to its partners and borrowers alike. Within just 6 months of operations, StrideOne has also acquired the EzCred platform – a leading tech firm functional for over 5 years and used by renowned financial institutions – to bolster its tech interface. There are plans to make more tech-focused acquisitions in 2022.

Speaking on the milestone, Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, Founder, StrideOne, said, “We at Stride Ventures have been constantly trying to innovate newer and better structures that would be further conducive to startups who are looking to expand and grow their businesses. The idea of StrideOne and the mission of empowering MSMEs with smartly designed, tailored credit offerings, is another significant shift in that direction. It has been a supremely gratifying journey for us already and with Elevar’s deep expertise in democratizing access to capital for underserved customer segments, we look forward to doubling down on our milestones in FY’23 and beyond.”

Mr. Abhinav Suri, Co-Founder, StrideOne, said “We are passionate about helping startups in their growth journeys across life cycles and sectors. Through StrideOne we aim to go deeper into the startup ecosystem and provide financial products and services which help in day-to-day financial management. We have started with credit products for the supply chain and are investing towards building multiple offerings delivered through our technology platform that will be launched over the course of the year.”

Jyotsna Krishnan, Managing Partner, Elevar Equity, added “We are very selective about the business models and founders we back – in Ishpreet and Abhinav, we found two people who have deep execution experience in financial services, understand the startup ecosystem well, and are very sharp in how they have designed distribution into a massive, underserved market. They have a unique vision and a super-efficient profitable distribution model that lends itself to exponential growth. The accelerated scale displayed by StrideOne reiterates the massive opportunity waiting to be unlocked in the extended startup ecosystem and we are excited to partner with them to bring it to life.”

Some examples of the customized credit structures StrideOne has already delivered include a financing program that helped the supply chain of a logistics tech startup, facilitating personal credit to their transport drivers with digital onboarding and an extremely low turnaround time. For a B2B silk supply business, StrideOne created a credit structure where they paid the company upfront and helped their weavers/reelers/farmers with seamless credit resulting in business volumes for the company.