<ul><li>Venture debt firm <keyword id="9353689" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="stride-ventures" source="Orion">Stride Ventures</keyword> sanctioned over ₹1600 crore to over 70 companies across various sectors. </li><li>Strides has diverse investments across sectors such as consumer, fintech, agritech, B2B commerce, healthtech and more. </li><li>Venture debt disbursed in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> last year stood at $538 million. </li></ul> Venture debt firm Stride Ventures today closed its Stride Ventures India Fund II after raising $200 million. The fund’s portfolio includes startups like CredAvenue (<keyword id="14257101" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="yubi" source="Orion">Yubi</keyword>), <keyword id="3030142" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="myglamm" source="Orion">MyGlamm</keyword>, <keyword id="12437554" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zepto" source="Orion">Zepto</keyword>, BluSmart and more. Stride said that the new fund saw participation from leading banks, marquee family offices, corporate treasuries, sovereign funds, PE funds, insurance firms and HNIs. "The growing investor trust in the Indian start-up ecosystem provided us with a great opportunity to develop a strong pipeline of deployments that we have utilized across various sectors. Stride Ventures goal is to continue being a preferred lender while developing innovative alternate financing solutions for founders,” said <keyword id="13803875" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="ishpreet-singh-gandhi" source="Orion">Ishpreet Singh Gandhi</keyword>, founder and managing partner at Stride Ventures. The fund saw its first close back in August 2021. Strides has diverse investments across sectors such as consumer, fin-tech, agri-tech, B2B commerce, health-tech, B2B SaaS, mobility &amp; energy solutions (EV). It has sanctioned over ₹1600 crore to over 70 companies across these verticals. “The current economic environment has made growing businesses more amenable to debt transactions than ever before, giving India's venture lending industry a chance to grow and evolve,” added <keyword id="1946603" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="apoorva-sharma" source="Orion">Apoorva Sharma</keyword>, partner at Stride Ventures. According to an India Venture Debt <a href="https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/www.strideventures.in/Stride+Ventures+India+Debt+Report+2022.pdf">Report</a> 2022, the firm released in May, venture debt disbursals stood at $538 million last year. The fund facilitated joint-lending structures with leading banks over three years. It claims to have built innovative alternate financing solutions within venture debt for founders to allocate capital efficiently. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/akasa-air-has-enough-capital-to-induct-72-aircraft-thanks-to-rakesh-jhunjhunwalas-visionary-role-says-ceo/articleshow/93616737.cms">Akasa Air has enough capital to induct 72 aircraft thanks to Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s visionary role, says CEO</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/workplace-recognition-and-not-salary-is-top-criteria-for-job-seekers-in-india-report/articleshow/93615940.cms">Workplace recognition, and not salary, is top criteria for job seekers in India: report</a>

Venture debt firm Stride Ventures closes a $200 million fund

<ul><li><keyword id="14074636" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="StrideOne" source="Orion">StrideOne</keyword>, which recently raised ₹250 crore as both equity from Elevar Equity and debt from banks, hopes other startups would follow its example.</li><li>The tech-powered digital lender which received its <keyword id="7882527" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NBFC-license" source="Orion">NBFC license</keyword> last year, believes that the time is ripe for their debt-based solutions.</li><li>“When there is concentration of equity around all the time, that’s what is running in their minds all the time. It will create a large awareness of debt products,” <keyword id="14134418" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Abhinav-Suri" source="Orion">Abhinav Suri</keyword>, the co-founder of StrideOne.</li></ul>While most startups are feeling the heat of a funding winter, Delhi-based startup StrideOne sees an opportunity to tap an ecosystem largely untouched by traditional finance. The tech-powered digital lender which received its NBFC license last year, believes that the time is ripe for their debt-based solutions as capital is expected to remain scarce for the next three-four quarters. “This ripple effect (of a funding slowdown) will be felt across the startup ecosystem. We are a startup focussed institution and this provides us with an opportunity to offer our off-balance sheet solutions to them,” <keyword id="13803875" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ishpreet-Singh-Gandhi" source="Orion">Ishpreet Singh Gandhi</keyword>, co-founder, StrideOne told Business Insider India. The end-to-end digital solutions company also acquired EdCred platform, a SaaS company to improve its technology capabilities which will allow them to grow without hiring more people. “We want to remain unit positive,” said Abhinav Suri, co-founder, StrideOne — which recently raised ₹250 crore as both equity from Elevar Equity and debt from banks. It expects other startups to follow their example. “Some startups also do not want to raise equity at the current valuations but also intend to keep on building the mindspace for their products,” explains Gandhi, who is a former banker like his co-founder Suri. StrideOne is also at an inflection point where startups might beckon an era of debt. “When there is concentration of equity around all the time, that’s what is running in their minds all the time. It will create a large awareness of debt products,” says Suri. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Paying influencers, FPOs and drivers" comment="subhead" text="Paying influencers, FPOs and drivers">Paying influencers, FPOs and drivers</cmsannotation> Gandhi and Suri are keen on funding companies such as themselves who are unit positive and intend to keep creating value even in a low-capital regime. Yet, their ‘solutions’ are nothing like straight loans offered by banks. One of their clients is a logistics company with top-tier clients like JSW Steel and Amazon. They need to pay their drivers every month but get paid every 60 days. StrideOne offers solutions that aid the startup like working capital loans but also help them collect from their clients. MyGlamm is yet another client of theirs which needs to pay its many influencers every month, and StrideOne eases the way their cash flow works and allows a growing company such as them to keep growing. Since it is MSME and agritech focussed, StrideOne is also helping many unorganized players into the formal economy. “We are working with the silk value chain, and also FMCG players - startups whose vendors go all the way back to farmers producer organizations or FPO who become our borrower,” explains Suri. Since StrideOne was floated by <keyword id="14134419" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Strides-Ventures" source="Orion">Strides Ventures</keyword>, a venture debt fund — it already has access to a pool of startups in need of specialized financing solutions. “They are plugged into the startup ecosystem which pretty much provides them with zero acquisition cost where they are solving a problem and not pitching sales to them,” says Jyotsna Krishnan, managing partner at Elevar Equity. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/mitsubishi-electric-to-invest-220-crore-to-set-up-factory-in-maharashtra/articleshow/92054968.cms">Mitsubishi Electric to invest ₹220 crore to set up factory in Maharashtra</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/paytm-could-be-entering-a-low-cost-high-profit-margin-regime-say-a-brokerage-firm/articleshow/92054964.cms">PayTM could be entering a low cost-high profit margin regime, say a brokerage firm</a>

This startup has a solution for other startups suffering from funding slowdown

Financial services platform for startups <keyword id="14074636" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="strideone" source="Orion">StrideOne</keyword> on Tuesday said it has raised Rs 250 crore via a mix of equity (led by <keyword id="211885" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="elevar-equity" source="Orion">Elevar Equity</keyword>) and debt from banks. StrideOne, started by founders of venture debt fund <keyword id="9353689" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="stride-ventures" source="Orion">Stride Ventures</keyword>, introduced a startup-led credit distribution model for their supply chains and crossed AUM (asset under management) mark of Rs 200 crore in six months of inception across more than 20 anchor companies. It aims to reduce technological and financing gaps by leveraging the startups' existing ecosystem (vendors, suppliers) to provide credit related and other financial products such as tie-up finance, personal loans, etc. "We have been trying to innovate newer structures that would be further conducive to startups who are looking to expand and grow their businesses," said <keyword id="13803875" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="ishpreet-singh-gandhi" source="Orion">Ishpreet Singh Gandhi</keyword>, Founder, StrideOne. StrideOne, an NBFC licensed by the <keyword id="6354335" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india" source="Orion">Reserve Bank of India</keyword>, said it 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. StrideOne recently acquired tech firm EzCred platform and plans to make more tech-focused acquisitions in 2022. "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," said <keyword id="14074637" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="jyotsna-krishnan" source="Orion">Jyotsna Krishnan</keyword>, Managing Partner, Elevar Equity. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/vineeta-singhs-sugar-cosmetics-raises-50-mn-as-it-plans-to-add-30000-stores/articleshow/91906537.cms">Vineeta Singh’s Sugar Cosmetics raises $50 million as it plans to add 30,000 stores</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/mango-production-down-by-80-in-up-due-to-abnormal-weather-conditions-say-growers/articleshow/91905401.cms">Mango production down by 80% in UP due to abnormal weather conditions, say growers</a>

StrideOne raises ₹250 crore to help reduce technological and financing gaps

<ul><li>71% of <keyword id="16562257" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="founders-of-early-stage" source="Orion">founders of early-stage</keyword> companies plan to raise <keyword id="549785" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="venture-debt" source="Orion">venture debt</keyword> in 2023. </li><li>74% of VCs surveyed said they would recommend their portfolio companies to take on venture debt in 2023. </li><li>Venture debt disbursed increased 2.6 times from 2019 to 2022.</li></ul>A lot has changed in the last one year in the <keyword id="1948071" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="Indian-start-up" source="Orion">Indian start-up</keyword> landscape. In per a survey by India Venture Debt Report by <keyword id="9353689" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="Stride-Ventures" source="Orion">Stride Ventures</keyword>, 82% of founders said they will strive for <keyword id="6515078" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="profitability" source="Orion">profitability</keyword> and prioritize scaling their startups in 2023. Also, 79% of VCs want to focus on profitability, while only 21% want to focus on growth. This is in contrast to 2022 when 68% of founders and 55% of VCs focused on growth rather than profitability. The survey also revealed that 71% of founders of early-stage companies plan to raise venture debt in 2023, compared to 50% of late-stage founders and 20% of growth-stage founders. Says Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, founder and managing partner, Stride Ventures, “Venture debt has become one of the key growth enablers for Indian startups.” Additionally, 74% of VCs surveyed would recommend their portfolio companies to take on venture debt in 2023. The survey results also highlighted that 62% of founders and 44% of VCs consider "engaging with bank limits" as the most important value-added service offered by a venture debt fund, with "advisory on corporate financial services" being the second most preferred service for 28% of founders and 33% of VCs. Bank limits are defined by a bank to set up amount and duration based restrictions on the transactions that can be carried out by the user. This is a change from 2022, where advisory on corporate financial services was considered the most important value-added service. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Agritech, healthtech, SaaS receive fewer venture debt prospects" comment="subhead2" text="Agritech, healthtech, SaaS receive fewer venture debt prospects">Agritech, healthtech, SaaS receive fewer venture debt prospects</cmsannotation> Finally, the survey indicated that agritech, healthtech, and SaaS sectors are receiving fewer venture debt prospects according to founders and VCs. Out of a total of 170-180 venture debt deals recorded in 2022, the fintech sector emerged as the leading sector with 31% of the share, followed by consumer and agritech sector startups. The report also highlights the potential of B2B replacing fintech in 2023 for the most attractive sector for venture debt, closely followed by consumer and EV. The report also reveals that the venture debt ecosystem in India is thriving, with a 2.6 times increase in the debt amount disbursed from 2019 to 2022. The report indicates that Series D and startups beyond that stage raised the most debt in 2022, while pre-Series A stage startups completed the highest number of debt deals. Geographically, the report recorded Delhi NCR as the most active location for venture debt deals in 2022, followed by Bangalore and Mumbai. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/adani-ports-jsw-steel-indusind-bank-top-the-nifty50-list-with-highest-promoter-pledges/slidelist/98008939.cms">Adani Ports, JSW Steel, IndusInd Bank top Nifty50 list with highest promoter pledges</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/sell-off-in-adani-group-shares-resumes-after-george-soros-comments/articleshow/98008647.cms">Sell-off in Adani group shares resumes after George Soros’ comments</a>

As profitability takes priority, venture debt finds favour with startup founders: Strides report

<ul><li>An overall growth of 150% was recorded in the payments/salaries to gig workers between October 2021 and September 2022. </li><li>The potential of gig workers can grow further if online retail grows across the country. </li><li>The report predicts that the penetration of online retail was just 5% in 2019 and is expected to grow to 11% by 2024.</li></ul>As more e-commerce platforms enter the 10-minute delivery space, demand for gig workers has not only ballooned – but their monthly earnings have increased too. A report by StrideOne, a tech-enabled NBFC, titled ‘The Startup Economy Report 2022’ says that 25% of gig workers surveyed reported an over 50% rise in their monthly income as compared to their previous mode of livelihood – in the last one year. An overall growth of 150% was recorded in the payments/salaries to gig workers between October 2021 and September 2022, the report said. Majority of the gig workers are engaged in retail trade and sales which includes fast commerce like food and beverage, grocery, medicines delivery etc. Around 56% of the gig workers surveyed previously had full-time employment. “Startups are limiting their hiring of permanent employees. Gig workers have begun to replace these permanent employees,” the report said. The number of companies who shifted to a semi-gig workforce model has increased by 15% since October 2021. The potential of gig workers can grow if online retail expands across the country. The report predicts that the penetration of online retail was 5% in 2019, and is expected to grow to 11% by 2024. Non-farm sectors of <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> have the potential to add over 90 million gig jobs in the longer term, the report predicts. As of now, the <keyword id="3080230" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gig-economy" source="Orion">gig economy</keyword> constitutes 1.5% of the total workforce in India and is expected to expand to 23.5 million by 2024 constituting 4% of the workforce. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Startup ecosystem of India" comment="subhead" text="Startup ecosystem of India"><keyword id="15794501" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="startup-ecosystem-of-India" source="Orion">Startup ecosystem of India</keyword></cmsannotation> The number of jobs created by the startup ecosystem of India, which is said to be the third largest in the world, grew by 78% CAGR between 2017 and 2022. It is further projected to grow at a CAGR of 24% from 2022-27. The ecosystem altogether created over 2 lakh jobs this year, according to the report. However, several startups like Byju’s, Udaan laid off several employees from its workforce as a part of their retrenchment due to funding winter. “The rapid growth phase and maturity of the ecosystem have unlocked tremendous appetite for scalability, alternate funding options, expansion into the global market and the capacity to enable millions of jobs. This meteoric rise of startups has made India the third largest startup ecosystem in the world and has significantly impacted the Indian economy showcasing the ability to contribute approximately 4-5% to the gross domestic product (GDP) of India,” said Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, founder, StrideOne. Sectors like textile, apparel and logistics however retain the title of being the biggest job creators in the country. The textile industry is said to be the second largest employer in India, which has given direct employment to 5 crore people, and 10 crore people in allied industries. Whereas, logistics sector currently employs 22 million people and is estimated to contribute 11% to the overall GDP of the country. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/indian-railways-backed-spacetech-startup-galaxeye-raises-3-5-million-in-seed-round/articleshow/96250010.cms">Indian Railways backed spacetech startup GalaxEye raises $3.5 million in seed round</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/will-be-lucky-if-we-grow-5-next-year-says-former-rbi-governor-raghuram-rajan/articleshow/96249572.cms">Will be lucky if we grow 5% next year says former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan</a>

A quarter of Indian gig workers’ salaries grew by 50% in the last one year

<ul><li>With uncertainty around the world, the bustling startup ecosystem in India too will have to face the wrath of the virus.</li><li>With the lack of clarity regarding the full extent of the crisis, economic disruption is a consequence of the unprecedented health crisis.</li><li>Some <keyword id="6362513" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startups">startups</keyword> could shut shop, and many others will have to tweak their businesses to stay afloat.</li></ul>The Coronavirus pandemic crashed stock markets around the world, productions have come to a halt and businesses look at a bleak future with little or no fear of running for months with no revenue. As uncertainty builds around the world, the bustling startup ecosystem in India too will have to face the wrath of the virus. <keyword id="6359051" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="investors">Investors</keyword> will now be cautious with their moves, while some say funding could soon come to a halt. During these unprecedented times, investments into startups will be a challenging task. Investors believe that this is a time to rethink strategies and re-evaluate how they want to move forward. Funding could come to a halt, valuations could change With the lack of clarity regarding the full extent of the crisis, economic disruption is a consequence of an unprecedented health crisis, believes Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, founder and managing partner at Stride Ventures. Gandhi also said that current valuations could be difficult to justify in the funding rounds of the future rounds. “Capital will flow more towards startups with robust proof of concept and institutional backing,” he said. But investors are also hopeful that things could soon change. “As things settle down, a bit of funding should resume as there is a lot of dry powder that needs to be put to work. Investors generally understand that growth will sputter for the majority of their portfolio and so will outside funding, so they will work with cos to increase runway and also support with capital to ride through the situation,” said Deepak Gupta, founder, WEH Ventures told Business Insider. Founders will have to tweak their businesses Unforeseen times also call for unforeseen measures. With the coronavirus pandemic, there are many startups that will have to change their course of work. A survey by Indeed says that 64% of Indian businesses are pivoting in response to pandemic. And investors who are all on board and helping out their portfolio companies deal with the crisis, have sent out a clear message - pivot if your idea doesn’t fit the bill. “Founders have been asked to tweak their business plans to ensure sufficient cash buffers due to lower than projected sales growth and slowdown in the funding environment. Portfolio companies as well as investors are conscious of the fact that implementing work from home policies may slow down their turnaround time, but these policies are essential to ensure that team morale and health are not affected over the course of the next few weeks,” Venkat Vallabhaneni, managing partner at Inflexor Ventures told Business Insider. Cashburn is not an option anymore Most of the sectors except for food, e-commerce and edtech have been severely affected. Many of them are seeing zero revenue right now. Even if they have revenue, they have no supply chain or the ability to deliver. Keeping this in mind, entrepreneurs will have to face the bitter truth – they might have to let go of some employees too. Vani Kola, managing director of Kalaari Capital told Business Insider in an earlier interview that this is a kind of planning no one has ever thought of or prepared for. “So it’s just a question of runway and cash flow and ability to keep their lights on and pay their employees. Many countries are caught in this vulnerable situation. Though their underlined business premise may still be true, it may take capacity to stay in the market for 6-9 months with severely reduced revenues and not every startup has that kind of a cash cushion to be able to ride the market,” she said. Investors are hopeful for ‘business as usual’ to return soon Investors are taking this time to extend their resources and expertise to founders. But many are also taking advantage of their backup support to help startups. Anup Jain, managing partner, Orios Venture Partners believes that investments could be delayed because the due diligence process requires boots on the ground from teams across the investment firms. “Having said that, we do not think that there will be an investment slowdown at the seed stage in this current situation, unless we see the spread grow further. We are facilitating back up support to our portfolio in case there is a funding holdup from an incoming investor at Series A,” said Jain. For some, work goes on as business as usual. Mumbai-based early stage fund house Unicorn India Ventures has announced the first close of its 2nd equity fund at $12 million. The second equity fund of $53 million was announced last year. “The investment would happen as it is, just the deal size and <keyword id="51393" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="valuation">valuation</keyword> may see some correction. The investment cycle may get longer due to lock down but overall we don't see sentiment going down, this is a temporary phase which will pass,” said Anil Joshi, managing partner, Unicorn India ventures. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/tech-startups-are-firing-people-via-video-calling-apps/articleshow/74905255.cms">Tech startups are firing people via video calling apps</a>

You Searched For "ishpreet singh gandhi" and got 6 results

Venture debt firm Stride Ventures closes a $200 million fund

Eetika Kapoor

This startup has a solution for other startups suffering from funding slowdown

Katya Naidu

StrideOne raises ₹250 crore to help reduce technological and financing gaps

IANS

As profitability takes priority, venture debt finds favour with startup founders: Strides report

Anagh Pal

A quarter of Indian gig workers’ salaries grew by 50% in the last one year

Vaamanaa Sethi

Startup funding could halt, valuations to take a hit and business models have to be pivoted say investors

Sanchita Dash