- StrideOne, which recently raised ₹250 crore as both Elevar Equity equity and bank debt, hopes other startups will follow suit.
- The technology-driven digital lender that are
NBFC License last year, believes the time is right for their debt-based solutions. - “If there’s a constant concentration of justice, that’s what’s going through their minds all the time. It will bring a lot of exposure to debt products.”
Abhinav Suric the co-founder ofStrideOne †
While most startups are feeling the heat of a funding winter, Delhi-based startup StrideOne sees an opportunity to tap into an ecosystem largely untouched by traditional finance. The technology-driven digital lender that received its NBFC license last year believes the time is right for their debt-based solutions as capital is expected to remain scarce for the next three to four quarters.
“This ripple effect (of a funding slowdown) will be felt across the startup ecosystem. We are a startup-focused institution and this gives us the opportunity to offer our off-balance sheet solutions to them,”
The end-to-end digital solutions company also acquired the EdCred platform, a SaaS company to enhance its technology capabilities, allowing it to grow without hiring more people. “We want to remain unit positive,” said Abhinav Suri, co-founder of StrideOne – which recently raised ₹250 crore as both Elevar Equity equity and bank debt.
It expects other startups to follow suit. “Some startups also don’t want to raise equity at current valuations, but also plan to continue building the mindspace for their products,” explains Gandhi, a former banker like his co-founder Suri.
StrideOne is also at a turning point where startups could usher in an era of debt. “If there’s a constant concentration of justice, that’s what’s going through their minds all the time. It creates a high profile for debt products,” says Suri.
Paid influencers, FPOs and drivers
Gandhi and Suri love to fund companies like themselves that are unit-positive and intend to continue to create value even in a low-capitalized regime. Yet their ‘solutions’ are nothing like ordinary loans offered by banks.
One of their clients is a logistics company with top clients such as JSW Steel and Amazon. They have to pay their drivers every month but get paid every 60 days. StrideOne offers solutions that help the startup, such as working capital loans, but also help collect from their clients.
MyGlamm is yet another client of theirs who has to pay their many influencers every month, and StrideOne simplifies the way their cash flow works and allows a growing company like them to continue to grow.
Because it focuses on MSME and agritech, StrideOne also helps many disorganized players in the formal economy. “We work with the silk value chain, as well as FMCG players – startups whose suppliers go all the way back to farmer producer organizations or FPOs who become our borrower,” explains Suri.
Since StrideOne flew by
“They are connected to the startup ecosystem, which means they have virtually no acquisition costs when they solve a problem and don’t offer sales to them,” said Jyotsna Krishnan, managing partner at Elevar Equity.
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