Sequoia-backed Progcap raises debt round led by Stride Ventures

Retailer-focused financing provider Progcap has raised Rs 10 crore (about $1.37 million) in a debt funding round led by Stride Ventures, the company said on Tuesday.

Progcap, which is based in New Delhi, said it will use the capital raised to increase its assets under management and penetration among retailers in the country. Apart from this, it will also look to strengthen relationships with banks and corporations.

The investment in Progcap marks Stride Ventures’ 14th bet from its maiden fund, and its second foray into the fintech space.

“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,” said Ishpreet Gandhi, founder and managing partner, Stride Ventures.

The venture debt firm had marked the first close of its debut fund in December 2019. Since then, the fund has been actively investing even during the coronavirus lockdown, having made at least a dozen bets so far. Its portfolio firms include Stellapps, LetsTransport and Miko.

Progcap, operated by Desiderata Impact Ventures Pvt. Ltd, was set up in 2017 by Pallavi Shrivastava and Himanshu Chandra. The company says it provides clients with easily accessible and flexible collateral-free working capital loans through its Last Mile Retailer Finance (LMRF) solution.

It provides this financing to retailers in Tier-II, Tier-III and Tier-IV locations. It currently claims to have more than two lakh retailers on its platform.

In July 2019, Progcap had raised $5 million (about Rs 36.4 crore) in a Series A round of funding led by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital India. Others who participated in that exercise included CIBIL chairman M.V. Nair, Freecharge co-founder Sandeep Tandon and GrowX Ventures Fund.

The Series A round had come after VCCircle reported in April 2019 that Progcap had raised $1 million (about Rs 7.2 crore) in a round led by GrowX Ventures.