DPIIT Partners Stride Ventures To Fuel Growth Of Indian Startups

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has partnered with venture debt firm Stride Ventures to support growth of Indian startups and expand their global footprint.

The collaboration will provide financial backing, mentorship, and market access to startups, with a focus on sectors like manufacturing, consumer goods, B2B, and cleantech, as per a statement.

Sanjiv, joint secretary of Startup India, said the initiative would contribute to India’s economic growth by boosting innovation and entrepreneurship. 

Notably, Stride Ventures will focus on high-growth startups, offering funding, market access, and policy support, particularly for startups from tier II and III cities. 

The initiative will also raise awareness of venture debt as a fundraising option for startups.

The update comes about a month after Stride Ventures launched its fourth fund with a target corpus of $300 Mn (around INR 2,545 Cr), marking its largest domestic fund so far.

The fourth fund will be aimed at fuelling startup’s growth across different sectors by providing them financial assistance. 

Founded in 2019 by Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, Stride Ventures is a venture debt firm that provides financing solutions to startups and growth-stage companies in India. 

Unlike traditional equity funding, venture debt offers capital to businesses in exchange for debt repayment, rather than ownership stakes. 

Recently, a Bengaluru-based edtech startup Vedantu secured INR 19.25 Cr ($2.4 Mn) in a mix of debt and equity financing from Stride Ventures Debt Fund II.

Stride Ventures announced the final closure of its Stride Ventures India Fund III at $165 Mn in May. The fund was focussed at backing startups across consumer brands, financial services and cleantech sectors.

The Fund III portfolio comprises names like BlueStone, Moneyview, Moove, Foxtale, CureSkin, NewMe, and Nat Habit, just to name a few.