Fintech startup Sewa Grih Rin raises $20 million in funding led by Norway-based NMI

Housing finance provider Sewa Grih Rin Ltd has raised $20 million, led by Norway-based Nordic Microfinance Initiative (NMI) and Women’s World Bank Asset Management.

Existing investors

Holdings, Oikocredit and Omidyar Network Fund also participated in the round.

The company plans to utilise the money to grow its loan book, work towards digitising its offerings and expand operations in Odisha, Jharkhand and other states.

Currently, the startup operates through a network of 36 branches in eight states, including Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.

Founded in 2015 by Shruti Gonsalves, Sewa Grih Rin – branded as Sitara – provides loans in the range of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 30 lakh for house construction, extension, purchase, and renovation exclusively for low-income households, especially to women in urban and rural areas.

“We aim to help around 7,000 families additionally in the current financial year by disbursing around $63 million and consequently achieve a book size of $97 million in FY23,” Golsalves said.

Discover the stories of your interest



The equity funding is expected to help the startup hire more talent at the supervisory and senior management levels, Gonsalves told ET.

Sewa Grih Rin has assets under management (AUM) of $46 million, with around 15,000 customers.

“We are presently at around Rs 300 crore of AUM and we plan to reach around Rs 700- Rs 800 crore AUM by the end of March 2023,” Gonsalves added.

The startup’s business model combines lending with social impact – catering to an informal housing tenure or incomplete property documentation – wherein it assists potential customers in making the property title legally executable.

“We aim to be an active and value-adding investor and are looking forward to joining like-minded investors on the Sitara Board. We are impressed with what we have seen from the company so far and optimistic for its future,” said Arthur Sletteberg, managing director of NMI.

Sitara raised around $10 million in 2019 from Oikocredit, Omidyar Network India,

, HDFC Holdings and Women’s World Banking.

The company has raised $34 million since it started operations.

Stay on top of technology and startup news that matters. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest and must-read tech news, delivered straight to your inbox.

For all the latest Technology News Click Here 

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! TechAI is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.