Investor Ravi Chachra launches $75-mn venture debt marketplace for startups

Part of Y-Combinator's winter 2022 batch, 8vdx has already disbursed $2.8 mn to 16 startups, including two from India

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2 min read Last Updated : Mar 25 2022 | 7:37 PM IST

8vdX, a venture debt marketplace for startups, has been set up by Ravi Chachra and Vijay Lavhale with an aim to disburse $75 million within the next 12 months to startups.

8vdX is part of Y-Combinator's (YC) winter 2022 batch that offers venture debt helping founders minimise dilution across sectors and geographies.

During the past three months, the platform has offered debt amounting to $2.8 million to 16 startups, including two from India, the second-largest country in the current YC batch, after the US.

All Indian startups are required to ‘flip’ into an approved country in order to receive YC funding, and 8vdX was set up to help these enterprises continue to grow by providing capital as soon as they are accepted on Y-Combinator.

8vdX aims to be a preferred debt partner for these startups as they scale and raise their future equity rounds at higher valuations post the startups graduate from YC.

“We launched 8vdX with an aim to provide venture debt to startups across sectors and geographies. In just three months, we have an AUM of $5 million and we are growing at over 25 per cent per week. 8vdX’s target is to have an AUM of over $75 million in the next 12 months. We are seeing strong interest from investors. We have 30 investors who have invested through our marketplace and there is a waiting list for investing in the next batch,” said Ravi Chachra, Co-Founder, 8vdX.

“We have strong interest from institutional investors who want to get exposure to debt of high growth tech companies,” he added.

8vdX venture debt has equity kickers attached to it. The company expects principal amounts to get repaid within short periods of time and equity kickers to generate upside over longer time horizons. This offers investors a combination of debt-like downside protection and equity-like upside. The company is starting with a focus on the YC ecosystem.