Bharat Housing Network raises $14.5 Mn Series A led by Nabventures

Bharat Housing Network, a tech platform for co-lending in affordable housing, has raised Rs 125 crore (approximately $14.5 million) in its Series A round led by Nabventures Fund with participation from Varanium NexGen Fund, 9Unicorns, Riverwalk Holdings, and SMK Ventures. DMI Sparkle Fund, LC Nueva and other investors also invested in the firm.

The company said it will deploy the fresh proceeds towards growing the affordable mortgage assets on the balance sheet and strengthen the technology platform.

Bharat Housing Network provides capital, technology and infrastructure to housing finance companies and non-banking finance companies for housing credit delivery at the grassroot level.

The platform enables lenders to build priority sector assets without incurring significant capital and operating expenditure. Currently, it focuses on delivering housing credit to tier II, III and other cities to the low-income group and economically weaker sections of the society.

Two-year-old Bharat Housing Network claims to have onboarded 23 financial institutions and delivers capital at 200 locations across 12 states. It targets to reach gross disbursements of $500 million (Rs 4,100 crore) in the next three years.

Nabventures Fund focuses on agri-food-rural tech including rural fintech backed by NABARD, SIDBI, Axis Bank, LIC and others. This is the seventh investment announced by the fund in the ongoing calendar year. It intends to close nine deals by the end of the year.

Recently, Chennai-based affordable housing finance firm Aham Housing Finance raised $3.6 million while Vridhi Home Finance scooped up raised $18 million in a Series A round led by Elevation Capital.

Housing finance industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13% to 14% in the long run with home loans originations expected at Rs 10.4 lakh crore by FY25 and Rs 18.7 lakh crore by FY30.