Millions of Indians dream of owning a home. They save for years, pay rent faithfully every month, and run businesses that sustain their families. And yet — the moment they walk into a bank and ask for a home loan — the system turns them away.
Not because they can’t afford it. Because they can’t prove it on paper.
Nivasa Finance is building the infrastructure to change that — and three of India’s sharpest early-stage investors just backed it with ₹25 crore.
The Funding: ₹25 Crore Seed Round From a Dream Team of Investors
Nivasa Finance, building access to secured housing credit for underserved borrowers across non-metro India, has raised ₹25 crore in seed funding from Prime Venture Partners, Blume Ventures, Whiteboard Capital, and a group of angel investors.
Getting all three of these funds into a single seed round is not routine. Prime VP, Blume and Whiteboard Capital are each known for backing category-defining fintech and infrastructure companies — and their collective conviction here tells a story about how large this opportunity really is.
The company said it plans to use the fresh capital to scale operations over the next 12 months.
Who Built Nivasa Finance?
Founded by Samit Shetty and Hitesh Saraf, Nivasa Finance supports borrowers through different stages of the loan process, including assessment, documentation, lender matching and disbursal.
The founder pedigree here is exceptional — and directly relevant to the problem being solved.
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.
This is a founder who has already built and sold a fintech company in the underserved credit space — and is now going deeper into the same problem with a more targeted product.
What Problem Is Nivasa Solving — and Why Does It Matter?
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.
That’s a ₹1.4 trillion market — and it’s still massively underserved.
The reason is structural. 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).
In simple terms: the borrower exists. The lender exists. The loan product exists. But there’s no trusted, efficient bridge between them — especially outside metro cities.
Nivasa Finance is that bridge.
How the Model Works — Tech + Boots on the Ground
Nivasa doesn’t just hand over a link and say “apply here.” It walks borrowers through the entire journey.
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.
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.
The zero-commission model for customers is a particularly important differentiator. Traditional Direct Selling Agents (DSAs) earn commissions that create conflicts of interest — pushing borrowers toward lenders that pay more rather than lenders that suit them best. Nivasa removes that misalignment entirely.
10+ Lending Partners — Already Connected to the System
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.
This is critical. Nivasa isn’t just a loan aggregator — it’s a fulfilment platform. When a case reaches a lender through Nivasa, it arrives already verified, documented, and disbursal-ready. That saves lenders enormous processing time and cost — which is why they keep working with Nivasa and not just going direct.
Early Traction — ₹20 Crore Disbursed, Pilots Already Working
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.
Mysore and Mandya are exactly the kind of semi-urban, non-metro markets that traditional lenders ignore. Getting to ₹20 crore in facilitated loans from these two districts alone — in under a year — is meaningful proof that the model works where it’s needed most.
The Big Picture — Why Non-Metro India Is the Real Opportunity
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.
India’s urbanisation story is no longer just about Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru. Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities — Mysore, Nashik, Coimbatore, Surat, Bhopal — are where the next 100 million homeowners will come from. And almost none of them will fit a traditional bank’s income documentation requirements.
What Investors Said — Why They Backed Nivasa
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.”
Three investors. Three different but deeply aligned perspectives. All saying the same thing: the execution gap in affordable housing credit is massive — and Nivasa is building the right way to close it.
Nivasa Finance
| Detail | Info |
| Startup | Nivasa Finance |
| Founded | 2024 |
| Founders | Samit Shetty (CEO) & Hitesh Saraf |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru, Karnataka |
| Round | Seed Funding |
| Amount Raised | ₹25 Crore (~$2.6 Mn) |
| Lead Investors | Prime VP, Blume Ventures, Whiteboard Capital |
| Lending Partners | 10+ (Banks, SFBs, HFCs, NBFCs) |
| Loans Facilitated | ₹20 Crore+ |
| Pilot Markets | Mysore & Mandya, Karnataka |
| Target Segment | Informal / semi-formal borrowers, loans under ₹25 lakh |
| Market Size | ₹1.4 Trillion annually |
