Clime Capital, Touchstone Partners to invest $2 mln in clean energy firm Stride

Singapore-based Clime Capital and Vietnam-based Touchstone Partners will jointly invest $2 million in Ho Chi Minh City-based Stride, an innovative clean technology company, the two venture capital funds announced on Wednesday.

“The investment enables Stride to accelerate its deployment of clean energy solutions to more households and small businesses across Vietnam, thus reducing their energy expenses and assisting Vietnam in achieving its net zero targets,” said Andrew Fairthorne, CEO at Stride.

Stride helps residential and small business consumers take the next step toward clean energy with an affordable, transparent, and simple way to pay for eco-friendly home improvement projects and solar installations at the point of sale with 0% interest.

It aims to accelerate Vietnam’s low carbon transition by providing households and small businesses with eco-friendly home improvement projects, smart home technology, energy-efficient products, and access to solar energy.

"In the last two years, Stride has recorded rapid growth as the first company in Vietnam to offer low, upfront-cost financing, complimentary insurance, independent quality assurance, and a streamlined online consumer onboarding process.

"Stride has received increasing interest from residential and small business consumers who want to shift to lower-cost clean energy. Stride addresses this interest with a commercial solution that removes the barrier of high up-front costs," the firm said in a release.

Touchstone is among the most active venture investors in Vietnam. Its major investments in the country in the first quarter of this year included Medigo and Selex.

In March, Medigo, a Ho Chi Minh City-based startup providing remote healthcare services, raised $2 million in a Series A funding round led by the East Ventures fund, with the participation of Pavilion Capital and Touchstone Partners. The medtech startup is looking to use the investment to develop its healthcare service ecosystem, including remote doctor consultancy, round-the-clock medicine deliveries, and home medical tests.

In April, Selex, a Vietnamese maker of electric two-wheelers and battery packs, raised $3 million in a convertible note round from the Asian Development Bank’s venture capital arm ADB Ventures. Touchstone Partners and two foreign investment funds were the co-investors in the round. The cooperation aims to reduce carbon emissions in high-usage applications such as last-mile cargo and passenger transport in Vietnam.

Startups in Vietnam secured 134 deals with venture capital investment of $634 million in 2022, down 19% and 56% year-on-year, respectively, according to the Vietnam Innovation & Tech Investment Report 2023. The report, released by Do Ventures and Vietnam National Innovation Center (NIC) in April, said the sharp decline in venture capital was partly due to the profound impact of global turbulence, including financial uncertainty and market volatility.