Mumbai based venture debt fund, Stride Ventures has led a debt round of INR 10 crore in Progcap, a fintech player providing access to fast and flexible collateral-free working capital to retailers. This marks Stride Ventures’ fourteenth investment from its maiden fund and second investment in the fintech space.

Founded in 2017 by Pallavi Shrivastava and Himanshu Chandra, Progcap provides access to fast and flexible collateral-free working capital to retailers in Tier-II, III, and IV areas, where retailers typically face challenges in accessing capital for their businesses. Through its Last Mile Retailer Finance facility (LMRF) solution, the fintech company provides the underbanked, semi-urban and rural retailers in India access to flexible, collateral-free working capital.

Speaking about the funding, Ishpreet Gandhi, Founder & Managing Partner, Stride Ventures, said “India has a complex supply chain. However, the solutions for small dealers and retailers are limited. Accessibility to credit will enable them to be at the forefront of India’s consumption story and Progcap is well positioned to drive this change. We are witnessing strong momentum in FinTech and acknowledge the size of the opportunity in India. Given our banking vintage and relationships across banks and corporates, we are excited to partner with Progcap in their journey.”

Progcap has scaled up over 5x post COVID with best-in-class asset quality. The company has over 2 lakh retailers on its platform and has partnered with some of the largest brands in the country.

The fresh capital will be strategically deployed to increase Progcap’s AUM and increase their penetration amongst retailers across the country. Further, Progcap will look to strengthen its ties with banks and corporates by leveraging Stride’s network.

Pallavi and Himanshu, Co-Founders, Progcap, said, “We are excited to partner with Stride Ventures as we continue to scale the business. While Progcap is well capitalized, it is Stride team’s deep expertise in the banking ecosystem that we are looking forward to tap into to help accelerate our growth. We have just crossed $100 Million in disbursals and expect to reach US$1B GMV by March ‘22.

Since its inception, Stride Ventures has focused on investing in market leaders across sectors. Stride Ventures launched its maiden fund in 2019 and plans to invest in 25-30 startups for Stride Venture India Fund I.