Oikocredit plans to back affordable housing startups

Dutch impact investment organization, Oikocredit is known primarily for lending to microfinance institutions by pooling capital from investors and lenders. It made equity investments in startups in India. Joined by Insitor, Oikocredit, invested in Aashiyaan Housing & Development Finance, which aims to help families earning less than 35,000 rupees per month, buy homes. It will use some of the money to apply for a lending license also. Kolkata-based Aashiyaan plans to focus on semi urban and rural areas in eastern India. Aashiyaancompany’s founder ShubhankarSengupta quoted that affordable housing has grown most in the southern and western parts of India. The country’s affordable housing market has attracted investments from impact investors including Lok Capital and mainstream investors such as KKR owing to a government initiative to ensure universal housing access by 2022.