The Startup Financer: Sameer Mahajan, Co-Founder & CBO, StrideOne
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It was in 2022 when Sameer Mahajan cofounded StrideOne with Ishpreet Gandhi and Abhinav Suri with the aim of providing alternate finance to startups. With nearly a decade of experience in the banking space with Axis, YES BANK, IDFC FIRST Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank, Mahajan saw the scope of debt solutions and innovative financing for early-stage startups in India. “At StrideOne, we identified a significant gap in the financial technology available to these visionaries, limited to emerging market giants but not extending to the very supply chains that support them,” shares Sameer Mahajan, Co-Founder & CBO, StrideOne.
His and the financial service provider’s aim is clear: to forge partnerships with founders across categories, sectors and geographies, providing a blend of financial solutions and technical expertise to foster inclusive entrepreneurship. Mahajan is striving to empower and accelerate the ambitions of the Indian Startup Ecosystem and its ancillary MSMEs. StrideOne aims to reduce technological and financing gaps for startups and their ecosystem partners in India.
He notes how there is a gap in formal financing accessibility for entrepreneurs across the spectrum followed by inadequate accounting systems and documentation, barring many from traditional lending avenues. The CBO notes how the company has pioneered tech-enabled shortterm lending solutions. “Our solutions also include noncredit solutions like Receivable Management. Our solutions in the form of Supply Chain Financing and Embedded Finance, among others, are designed to streamline processes, enhance flexibility, and support the entire value chain,” he notes. It has so far catered to 60 million MSMEs to secure formal credit.
It was clear at the beginning that the one-size-fits-all approach would not be the right way, “Understanding and catering to the diverse financial needs of various business models were our foremost challenge.” StrideOne boasts of disbursement worth INR 3000 crore to over 5000 borrowers while maintaining a 100% collection efficiency, “This track record not only reflects our financial acumen but also our deep understanding of the ecosystem and the operational excellence that ensures risk mitigation and sustainable growth.”
Talking about innovative products and offerings, he shares “The introduction of receivable management services was a direct response to the needs of our partners, in this case, businesses were seeking help in managing their collections.” As a fintech founder, he has learnt to value integrating small, innovative enhancements into the operations rather than attempting wholesale transformations. And the adoption of AI into the business was an integral move.
“Our goal is to not only scale our operations but also to redefine the landscape of startup financing, ensuring that the next wave of Indian unicorns and their supply chains thrive in a mutually beneficial ecosystem,” he concludes.
Factsheet:
Net worth: INR 200cr ARR (Annual recurring revenue): INR 102cr
Year of inception: 2021
No. of employees: 140
