Stride – ASSIST

Investing in Impact

P4G awarded the partnership US $349,820 in grant funding. 

Stride is a clean tech startup in Vietnam that provides homes and businesses with affordable solar installations. It reduces the barriers of high upfront costs by providing customers with affordable payment plans, free insurance to protect their solar installation investment, and certified solar products that meet the required safety standards.

Vietnam’s energy costs are on the rise and the demand for electricity is increasing by more than 8% annually. To meet its clean energy goals and growing energy needs, the Vietnamese government has set a national goal of having half of all households and businesses use rooftop solar energy by 2030. That number currently stands at a little more than 100,000 households. Stride is well positioned to contribute to Vietnam’s national clean energy goals. 

Stride focuses on the underserved market of households and small businesses. The startup’s competitive advantage lies in quick pre-approval and a lower upfront deposit of 20% for the solar installation. The remaining 80% is funded by Stride and the customer pays it back in monthly installments. The business offers end customers two ways of accessing their solar panels – directly through them or through their distributor network to whom they offer incentive packages and discounts on materials that they can pass to customers. 

ASSIST, an international nonprofit, helped Stride contribute to the development of national solar installation standards and accreditation for solar industries. Having national standards will reduce safety risks, help customers build confidence in solar products, and ensure consistency in solar installations. 

Stride’s top successes during the P4G funding period: 

• Deployed 579 rooftop solar systems totaling 25.2 MWp, serving 786 clients across households, household businesses and SMEs.
• Reduced customer electricity bills by 30–38% and avoided nearly 16,800 tons of CO₂ through installed systems. 
• Expanded customer reach to 209 households, 350 household businesses and 227 SMEs, significantly increasing access compared with pre-funding levels. 
• Raised US $15.5 million in cumulative commercial investment during the grant period through equity and debt facilities. 
• Strengthened Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) partnerships from 50 to more than 75 partners and piloted technical standards and accreditation with 11 EPCs. 
• Built digital infrastructure including a customer mobile app, loan management system and EPC e-commerce platform to improve access, efficiency and partner operations. 
• Expanded social media audiences to more than 1,100 followers each on LinkedIn and Facebook and increased awareness through 10 main media articles. 
• Deepened policy and regulatory engagement through national showcases, rooftop solar policy roundtables, technical standards discussions and provincial workshops. 

During the grant period, Stride expanded its presence across major national and regional platforms, including the Saigon Summit, FusionSolar events in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang and Can Tho, GRECO exhibitions, Solar Week Vietnam, Solar & Storage Live Vietnam, the SNEC PV Power Expo in Shanghai and P4G showcase and policy dialogue events. These engagements strengthened Stride’s brand visibility, generated qualified leads, deepened relationships with EPC partners and positioned the company as a practical financing and implementation partner for households, household businesses, SMEs and factories seeking rooftop solar solutions. 

Stride launched and improved a customer mobile application to simplify customer interactions and installment payments, strengthened its loan management system to support loan origination and risk management, and developed an e-commerce platform to help EPC partners purchase solar equipment and manage inventory more efficiently. Its digital and communications strategy expanded audiences on LinkedIn and Facebook from approximately 200 followers per platform before funding to more than 1,100 followers on each platform, while third-party media coverage and 10 main articles increased public awareness of solar energy and financing options. In parallel, Stride built trusted partnerships with more than 75 EPCs, up from 50 before funding, and began piloting technical standards and an accreditation scheme with 11 EPC partners, supported by Raitek advisory input and professional endorsement from the Vietnam Clean Energy Association. 

Through high-quality installations, deferred payment financing, quality assurance and insurance, Stride deployed 579 systems totaling 25.2 MWp, served 786 clients, generated approximately US $9 million in revenue, reduced customer electricity bills by 30–38% and avoided nearly 16,800 tons of CO₂. Customer reach expanded significantly, with clean energy access provided to 209 households, 350 household businesses and 227 SMEs, compared with 110 households, 57 household businesses and 37 SMEs before funding began. The partnership also strengthened its investment base, securing Series A equity investment from UOB Venture Management, Clime Capital and Touchstone Partners in 2025, and raising cumulative commercial investment of US $15.5 million during the grant period through equity and debt facilities in a Series B round co-led by Lightrock and TRIREC. 

Beyond commercial deployment, the partnership engaged government, investor and industry stakeholders through P4G convenings, Ministry of Science and Technology events, policy dialogues and provincial workshops. In collaboration with VCEA and other stakeholders, Stride helped advance discussions on technical standards, EPC certification, permitting, rooftop solar rules, surplus electricity buyback, Pmax calculation, the two-part electricity tariff and the practical implementation of Decree 58/2025/ND-CP. These efforts helped bridge the gap between national clean energy ambitions and on-the-ground implementation by building EPC capacity, improving customer understanding and creating regular dialogue among policymakers, utilities, businesses and local authorities. 

The partnership produced two knowledge products during the funding period:

1. Stride - Clean Energy Solutions Accelerating Renewable Adoption Across Vietnam
2. Enabling Sustainable Growth in Vietnam’s Solar Energy Sector 

Lessons learned

• Flexible implementation models are essential because customer needs, policy conditions and financing requirements can shift during market development.
• Customer education is critical to adoption, especially where households and SMEs need clear information on solar performance, savings, financing and maintenance.
• Strong local partnerships with EPCs, government agencies, associations and utilities accelerate execution and improve trust in new clean energy solutions.
• Continuous regulatory engagement is necessary to address permitting, tariff, buyback and implementation challenges that affect rooftop solar deployment. 
• Data-driven monitoring improves decision-making, strengthens risk management and helps refine customer acquisition, partner coordination and financial models.
• Market education, partner capacity building and policy dialogue should be integrated from the outset rather than treated as separate workstreams. 

The partnership comprised the following partners: Stride (lead business partner); ASSIST (lead administrative partner)