Stride Ventures closes a debt round of INR 50 crore in Uni, a new-age Fintech offering flexible credit solutions

Leading venture debt firm, Stride Ventures, today announced a debt investment of INR 50 crore in Uni, a new-age fintech company. The venture debt fund is focused on providing debt solutions to new-age startups and through this association it has added yet another promising startup to its portfolio. With this debt investment, Stride Ventures aims to be a strategic partner in the brand’s journey of disrupting the fintech landscape by providing first-to-category features and products customised for specific user needs.

Uni was founded by Nitin Gupta, Prateek Jindal and Laxmikant Vyas who previously held leadership positions in large fintech and financial services organisations backed by considerable experience in products like pay later and credit cards. The team launched their flagship product,Uni Pay 1/3rd Card, in June 2021. The card automatically splits every transaction into 3 parts to be paid over 3 months for no extra charges.

The fintech startup raised one of the largest Series A rounds in the Indian Fintech space in December 2021. General Catalyst, Eight Roads and Elevation Capital led Uni’s $70M series A along with the existing investors Lightspeed and Accel. Uni is currently present in over 130 cities across India, including all major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, and Jaipur.

Commenting on the partnership Nitin Gupta, Founder and CEO, Uni said “At Uni, we aim to provide customised solutions to different consumer segments. With the Pay 1/3rd card we are addressing the need for flexibility while providing a rich customer experience that is cut above the rest. While there is no dearth of demand for credit products in India, matching the right customer profile with the right product is very important to build a sustainable business. With a deep understanding of credit risk we have ensured the right fundamentals are baked into each of our products. The debt round from Stride Ventures is a vote of confidence that the market has in us and our business model”

Commenting on the development, Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, Founder & Managing Partner – Stride Ventures, said “We are delighted to partner with Uni on their mission to change the way people interact with credit. Nitin and the team working behind Uni have a deep understanding of the fintech ecosystem which they have utilised to create a well differentiated and highly flexible credit solutions product in the form of the Pay 1/3rd card. We at Stride Ventures are thrilled to support the founders and are confident that through their rich financial services experience they will continue to bring forth well thought-out product strategies by using pioneering technology.”

About Uni

Founded by fintech and financial services veterans, Nitin Gupta, Prateek Jindal, and Laxmikant Vyas, Uni is a new-age fintech company that aims to bring a range of differentiated credit products to Indian consumers. Uni’s Pay 1/3rd card which was piloted in June automatically splits transactions into 1/3rd with NO INTEREST. With the Pay 1/3rd Card, Uni aims to intuitively solve the problem of short-term liquidity. It also offers consumers the flexibility to convert transactions to ‘Pay in Full’ at the end of the 30 days free credit period and in return can enjoy a 1% reward in the form of cashback. Uni is currently present in 130 cities across India including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, and Jaipur.

About Stride Ventures

Stride Ventures, a leading venture debt fund, has become synonymous with innovative startup financing in India. The firm has always characterized itself as a fund that has the ability to constantly adapt and evolve and bring forth novel solutions to the venture ecosystem. This is deeply rooted in the partner-centric approach that the company has adopted since its inception.

Stride provides comprehensive solutions, going beyond venture debt, to cater to the distinctive challenges faced by high-growth and inherently strong businesses, backed by leading VCs. Its institutionalised processes have ensured zero delays or delinquencies till date and Stride has been the one of the most active lenders in the Indian startup ecosystem

The firm has created a well-diversified portfolio by sanctioning over INR 1600 Crore in 65+ companies across Consumer, FinTech, Logistics, AgriTech, B2B Commerce, HealthTech, B2B SaaS, mobility & energy solutions (EV).