[Funding alert] AVIOM Housing Finance raises Rs 60 Cr in Series B round

Delhi-based AVIOM India Housing Finance on Monday announced it has raised Rs 60 crore in Series B round from Gojo & Company, Inc Japan, and Capital 4 Development Asia Fund, Netherlands. 

With this funding, the housing finance company is planning to venture into the cities of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttaranchal, and Delhi NCR. It intends to provide a major fillip to low-income masses in the informal urban sector who often face loan rejections mainly due to undocumented incomes, the company said in a release.

The funds will enable AVIOM to create an impact at the grass-root level and generate multiple growth opportunities for everyone, especially with a strong focus on women, thereby promoting gender equality, it added.

Kajal Ilmi, AVIOM MD & Founder said,

“We are happy to partner with Gojo &Co. and C4D to further strengthen our unique impact-focused financial services model. AVIOM follows a strong in-house credit assessment model, which serves a dual purpose of empowering women in rural India by creating jobs for them and allowing them to work flexible hours to contribute to the overall economic development.”

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The company, which has training centres in every branch for women training, has on-boarded 8,000 women agents who work as associates, and is now aiming to reach 50,000 women agents in a year’s time.

Taejun Shin Founder, Gojo & Co. said, 

“AVIOM has been actively addressing a pressing issue for many Indian households who are constantly on the lookout for affordable housing loans, however, somehow fail to secure them. We hope that our equity partnership will significantly contribute to the Aviom’s business expansion and the clients’ life improvements. This marks our foray into the housing finance space.” 

The latest round of funds will take equity in the company to about Rs 86 crore and help AVIOM expand its reach by penetrating into the tier II and III cities. While AVIOM’S current borrowing is Rs 150 crore, the firm intends to raise another Rs 500 crores in debt in the coming year.

Arvind Agarwal, Managing Partner, C4D Partners, added, 

“Aviom's model of primarily lending to women homeowners is solving many problems at the grass-root level. We believe that the management team has all the right motivation to succeed to greater heights. We are delighted to partner with Aviom in this journey and help them achieve newer milestones."

It had earlier raised Rs 15 crore in its Series A round of funding from Singapore-based impact-focused venture capital firm Insitor Management. 

In June 2019, Blackstone acquired 97.7 percent stake in Aadhar, a housing finance company that serves the home financing needs of low-income segment in India with a network of 316 branches across 20 states and union territories.

(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)

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