Hedge funds are offering to buy startups’ deposits stranded at Silicon Valley Bank for as little as 60 cents on the dollar, pitching expensive but crucial lifelines to founders unable to access their cash after the lender collapsed yesterday, people familiar with the matter said.

Firms better known for investing in distressed debt, including Oaktree, one of the people said, are fanning out to startups in the wake of the bank’s failure and seizure by the Federal Insurance Deposit Corp. on Friday. Its collapse left hundreds of startups — as well as the venture funds that backed them — unable to access their cash to meet payroll