New Delhi-based lender Aviom India Housing Finance, which specializes in financing modest homes, is in the process of selling shares to raise $30 mn. According to Kajal Ilmi, Founder and Dual Managing Director of Aviom, the company has loan assets worth Rs 990 crore and is in talks with a domestic private equity firm and a global pension fund for a new capital infusion. The company is Japan's Gojo-backed.
With a $30 mn investment, the new investor would receive a 30% ownership in the six-year-old lender, giving it a value of about Rs800 crore. According to Ilmi, the money would be used for future lending as the company plans to increase its loan assets to Rs1,300 crore by March 2023 and Rs2,500 crore by March 2024.
The lender provides loans to women, many of whom are from rural areas, without requesting official proof of income. Its typical loan is about Rs2.7 lakh. Aviom is currently owned by Gojo & Co for 39%, Sabre Partners AIF Trust for 12.8%, and Capital 4 Development Asia Fund Cooperatief UA for 7.43%. Ilmi-led promoters control 38.7%. Aviom hopes to increase its disbursement to between Rs70 and Rs80 crore each month over the next six months. The company has about 40,000 customers and operates in 14 states through 120 or so branches.
In addition to the State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and other local organizations, lenders to Aviom include the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), BlueOrchard Impact Investment, Water Equity Impact Investment, Triple Jump Impact Investment, and Symbiotics Investment. Over 55,000 women have been given the opportunity to make money thanks to Aviom's Aviom Shakti sourcing model, which employs referral agents for housing loans in place of commission. It intends to hire 3,000 women as agents each month moving ahead.
