Venture Catalysts & CREDAI Set Up $100 Mn Fund To Back Proptech Startups

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) and startup incubator Venture Catalysts have partnered to set up a $100 Mn proptech fund.   

The fund will invest in early-stage and growth-stage startups working in diverse sub-sectors of the real estate industry including residential, commercial, institutional and industrial, among others. 

The fund will support the Centre’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘Techade’ initiatives. It aims to help proptech players bring in more innovation in the realty sector. It further aims to digitise the $300-Bn Indian real estate sector, a joint statement said. 

“Real estate was one of the few sectors that witnessed adoption of technology even before the pandemic hit. However, post COVID, there is a need for a dedicated fund that would help propel growth in the sector,” said Anuj Golecha, cofounder of Venture Catalysts. 

Under the fund, CREDAI will provide startups access to its wide network base of over 13K members that are working as developers, vendors, channel partners, and promoters in the realty sector. In addition, it will offer mentorship and help digitise the selected startups. 

“We are witnessing a revolution as we marked a 15,400% increase in the number of startups as it rose from 471 in 2016 to 72,993 by June 2022. While there has been a remarkable rise in the number of startups, it is integral to support the growth of these innovators to help drive the growth of the sector and even the nation,” said Boman Irani, President-Elect of CREDAI.

The statement said that technological innovations and advancements are expected to boost the real estate sector, transforming it into a $1 Tn economy by 2030. 

Venture Catalysts has a slew of startups like OYO, Basic, Grexter, Sharenest, and Home Capital in its portfolio.

The fund launch announcement comes at a time when the Indian startup ecosystem is seeing a funding slowdown due to the Russia-Ukraine war, rising inflation and tightening monetary policies of central banks. 

According to Inc42 data, startup funding declined 17% to $20.82 Bn during January-August period of 2022 from $25.3 Bn during the same period in 2021.

However, a slew of funds have been launched of late for investing in homegrown startups. Weave Capital’s $75 Mn fund, Rocketship.vc’s $125 Mn fund, ARTPARK’s $100 Mn fund are some of the startup funds launched recently.