Mumbai, March 12 -- Private credit is stepping in ahead of public listings to help founders and promoters consolidate stakes or shore up capital as investors seek partial or full exits amid equity market uncertainty.

Over the past 12-14 months, founders or promoters of companies including Leap India, Symbiotec Pharma, Vivriti Group, Zepto, InMobi, Lenskart and Zetwerk have engaged in such transactions ahead of their initial public offerings (IPOs)

, multiple people familiar with the matter told Mint.

"Credit is increasingly being used as a flexible pool of capital to capture these opportunities and, in some cases, to provide exits to their investors, especially when public/IPO markets are facing headwinds," said Aakash Desai, chief inv...