StrideOne, a tech-led financial services platform for a startup has raised Rs 250 crore in mixed equity and debt round funding led by Elevar Equity.
The fast-growing company focuses on providing smartly designed customized financial solutions to MSMEs and supply chain partners of startups (anchors).
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 recorded tremendous growth momentum, becoming profitable within just 6 months of operations and accumulating an AUM of Rs 200 Cr across more than 20 anchor companies.
StrideOne offers an end-to-end digitized experience to its partners and borrowers alike.
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 development, 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.”
“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 year,” Mr. Abhinav Suri, Co-Founder, StrideOne added.
Commenting on the investment, Jyotsna Krishnan, Managing Partner, Elevar Equity, said, “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.”