Investors:
Prime Venture Partners, Blume Ventures, Whiteboard Capital
Bengaluru,
13 May : Nivasa Finance, building access to
secured housing credit for underserved borrowers across non-metro India,
has raised INR 25 crore in seed funding from Prime Venture Partners,
Blume Ventures, Whiteboard Capital, and a group of angel investors.
India’s
affordable housing segment, particularly loans under ₹25 lakh, represents a ₹1.4
trillion annual market with over 1 million loans disbursed each year, yet a
significant portion of demand remains unmet due to gaps in credit access for
informal and semi-formal borrowers. Borrowers in this segment, often
self-employed, gig workers, or small business owners, typically lack formal
income documentation or clear property records, making them difficult to
underwrite through traditional lending systems. At the same time, lenders face challenges
in sourcing verified, loan-ready customers from these markets, limiting
distribution of affordable home loans and Loan Against Property (LAP).
Nivasa
Finance is building a full-stack distribution and
fulfilment layer to address this gap. It supports borrowers across the
entire loan journey, from initial assessment and documentation readiness to
lender matching and disbursal, through a hybrid model that combines
technology-led workflows with on-ground field execution. The company
currently works with more than ten lending partners including banks, Small
Finance Banks (SFBs), Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) and Non-Banking Finance
Companies (NBFCs), enabling borrowers to access suitable loan options while
helping lenders receive verified, disbursal-ready cases.
Since
its launch in 2025, Nivasa has facilitated hundreds of loans worth over ₹20
crore, piloting the model in Mysore and Mandya districts of Karnataka.
Nivasa’s model is particularly focused on borrowers building homes on rural and
semi-urban markets, an increasingly important segment as housing demand shifts
beyond metro cities. Rising aspirations, improving income formalisation, and
increased lender appetite for secured lending in these markets are expected to
drive sustained growth in this category.
Unlike
traditional DSAs or branch-led sourcing, Nivasa combines remote onboarding,
assessment and matchmaking, with doorstep service to improve conversion rates
and the experience of both borrowers and lenders. The company also emphasises
transparency and a zero-commission approach for customers, addressing
long-standing trust gaps in the DSA segment. Nivasa has built customer-facing
digital interfaces, WhatsApp-led and app-based journeys, to simplify onboarding
and improve accessibility for borrowers in non-metro markets.
Nivasa
Finance was founded by Samit Shetty and Hitesh Saraf, combining deep
experience across microfinance and digital lending. Samit previously founded
and scaled Chaitanya India Fin Credit, which was later acquired by Navi
Technologies, and went on to lead Navi Finserve as its first CEO. His
experience working with underserved borrowers highlighted a persistent gap in
access to housing finance and loans against property. Hitesh has spent his
career building digital lending and underwriting systems across fintechs and
financial institutions. The founding team is now focused on building a scalable
distribution and fulfillment layer for secured credit in India.
Nivasa
is also exploring the path to securing an NBFC license to further strengthen
its role within the secured lending ecosystem. The
company plans to use the fresh capital to scale significantly over the next 12
months as it expands geographically and strengthens its distribution network
and partnerships with banks, NBFCs and housing finance companies. In parallel,
the company will continue to expand its field execution network.
Supporting
Quotes
Samit
Shetty, Founder & CEO, Nivasa Finance
“India
doesn’t have a credit problem, it has a mortgage debt problem. Our mortgage
debt to GDP ratio is at 20% of the levels in developed economies and below 40%
of most developing countries, while on unsecured we are mostly on par. There is
a large segment of borrowers across India who are building homes and own
property but remain excluded from formal secured credit systems, not because of
lack of intent or repayment ability, but because the access and fulfillment
mechanisms are non-transparent and very complex. At Nivasa, we are building a
distribution and fulfilment layer that gives customer clarity on viable loan
options and keeps fulfilment simple for the customer, while enabling lenders to
participate in this segment with greater confidence and efficiency.”
Sanjay
Swamy, Managing Partner, Prime Venture Partners
“100% of households in more than 600,000
villages in India aspire to transform from semi-permanent to permanent homes
and we see a lot of this happening in the next decade. Samit, Hitesh and team
are committed to driving this transformation with fair and affordable financing
and we're thrilled to partner with them in this journey.”
Karthik
Reddy, Managing Partner, Blume Ventures
“Nivasa
is building critical infrastructure for expanding access to secured finance in
underpenetrated markets. Their focus on execution, customer readiness, and
lender alignment positions them well to scale in this segment.”
Anshu
Prasher, Partner, Whiteboard Capital
“India’s
credit ecosystem is evolving rapidly, but large segments of borrowers still
remain underserved because access and execution continue to be fragmented. What
stood out to us about Nivasa is its ability to combine technology with deep
on-ground understanding to simplify the secured lending journey for customers.
We’re excited to partner with them as they build a category-defining platform
in this space.”
About
Nivasa Finance
Nivasa
Finance is a secured loans fulfillment and distribution platform that enables
underserved borrowers across India to access formal credit. The company
combines technology with on-ground execution to support customers through the
entire loan journey, from assessment and documentation to lender matching and
disbursal, making credit more accessible, transparent, and efficient. For more
information, please visit: https://www.nivasafinance.com/.