Fintech startup HomeCapital, which provides down payment to first-time home buyers, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from funding and incubation platform Venture Catalysts.
The funding was led by Anuj Golecha, Gaurav Gandhi, Ram Joukani, Gaurav Singhvi, Vishal Jhunjhunwala, Anudeep Jhunjhunwala, Brijesh Thakkar, Revathi Roy, Jagidsh Gothi and Dipan Dalal, among others.
HomeCapital will use the funds to scale up infrastructure, enhance its product and enter into strategic tie-ups with financial partners, the startup said in a statement.
HomeCapital was founded earlier this year by IIM Calcutta alumnus Lalit Menghani. Prior to starting up, Menghani worked as associate director at private equity firm Milestone Capital Advisors.
“The biggest challenge that first-time home buyers face is the lack of savings for down payment. A sizeable amount of savings is required while buying a home and an average salaried person does not have such savings. We wanted to solve this problem by providing users with interest-free down payment," Menghani said, HomeCapital is in talks with financial institutions and housing finance companies for forming partnerships, he said.
“The founder's experience in the real estate sector helps drive a unique business model that addresses the core problem of home buyers, which is affordability," said Gaurav Gandhi, director, Essgee Group.
Mumbai-based Venture Catalysts typically invests $100,000-$500,000 in early-stage startups. In July last year, it raised $500,000 (around Rs 3.4 crore then) from Zaffiro Ventures.
Of late, the fintech sector has been eliciting considerable investor interest with many players emerging in payments, lending, insurance, personal finance and robo-advisory segments. At least 25 fintech startups had raised funding between January and May this year, according to a VCCircle analysis.