SiliconIndia | HDFC Capital to invest in 15 startups to make affordable housing innovation, efficiency

Nov 17,2022

HDFC Capital Advisors, a subsidiary of India’s largest private mortgage lender HDFC, has identified 15 Indian startups to support them financially through its property technology fund, HDFC Affordable Real Estate and Technology Program (H@ART).

In September, it had raised over Rs 500 crore as the first close of its property technology fund through global investors to support startups that drive innovation and efficiencies within the affordable housing ecosystem.

HDFC Capital has selected these 15 startups through HDFC Tech innovators programme in partnership with the government of India, other leading global and Indian funds, academia, and industry associations to identify the most innovative proptech companies.

“We have observed that the degree of absorption and adoption of technology in the real estate sector has so far been slower than in other infrastructure segments,” Hardeep Singh Puri, union minister of housing and urban affairs, said in his video address at the H@ART summit held in Mumbai. “Platforms like HDFC Capital’s Housing and Real Estate Technology Platform are essential for the real estate industry, which is the second largest employer in India and is expected to contribute 13% of GDP in 2030.”

According to him, these efforts to enhance adoption of technology in Indian real estate will encourage startups to build more disruptive innovations targeting and further strengthening the country’s housing ecosystem.

“We at HDFC firmly believe that technology will play a significant role in the development of a sustainable, efficient real estate ecosystem and in meeting India’s ‘Housing for All’ goal,” said Deepak Parekh, chairman, HDFC. “H@ART is a unique initiative for real time interaction between demand (industry), supply (startups) and financiers to accelerate adoption of technology in the built world.”

HDFC Real Estate Tech Innovators 2022 challenge that was conducted in partnership with Startup India, received an overwhelming response with over 537 startups categorised under project management & construction tech, sales & fintech and sustainability tech.

Mohamed AlQubaisi, executive director-real estate at Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), said the next sector ADIA sees proptech disrupting is residential real estate. “We need to embrace proptech in order to reduce costs, improve productivity and increase sales. We believe proptech will expedite ADIA and HDFC’s aim to finance the development of one million homes in India,” he said.