New Delhi, Aug. 19 -- Weaver Services, backed by Gaja Capital and Lok Capital, is set to raise fresh capital and bring new investors on board.
The fundraise comes amid reports that the non-bank lender is the frontrunner to acquire Centrum Group's housing finance unit.
Weaver Services said on Tuesday that it has executed definitive transaction documents to raise $170 million (Rs 1,482 crore) for the round, led by venture capital firm Lightspeed and PremjiInvest, subject to regulatory approvals. Gaja Capital also participated.
The capital will accelerate Weaver's asset acquisitions, technology development, and expansion into tier II and III cities, where the affordable housing gap remains acute. The non-bank lender also aims to combine strong market expertise in affordable housing finance with proprietary tech-driven underwriting models that leverage alternative data to assess borrower creditworthiness.
Founded last year by Satrajit Bhattacharya, who previously oversaw M&As at Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), Weaver has brought on board several other former HDFC professionals. Bhattacharya is vice-chairman, while former Fedbank Financial Services MD Anil Kothuri joined recently as co-founder, MD and CEO.
"There is a clear opportunity to use technology mindfully to offer home loans to the informal segment, while achieving better customer selection, superior risk management, and enhanced productivity," said Kothuri.
Last year, Weaver agreed to acquire Capital India Home Loans, raising Rs 800 crore ($95 million) from investors such as Gaja Capital and Lok Capital to finance the deal and expand its business. The acquisition cost about Rs 267 crore and received the Reserve Bank of India's approval in May.
Further, Weaver said on Tuesday that it is likely to acquire another asset for initial scale and is evaluating a few entities.
In June, VCCircle reported that Weaver was looking to acquire Centrum Housing Finance, with the overall deal size pegged at Rs 1,500-1,600 crore ($174.8-186.5 million).
Meanwhile, Lightspeed is a global multi-stage investment firm that invests across venture to late-stage growth, with a focus on accelerating disruptive innovations in artificial intelligence, enterprise, financial services, consumer, health, and business-to-business (B2B) segments.
PremjiInvest invests across private and public markets, spanning financial services, technology, consumer, industrials, and healthcare.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.