Optimo Capital's Rs 150 Crore Boost: Redefining India's Property Lending Market

The company aims to use the fresh capital to strengthen its technology and AI infrastructure, build co-lending partnerships, and expand its presence across tier-3 cities in India. Optimo seeks to bridge the USD 530 billion credit gap that currently exists in the Indian financial ecosystem.

Optimo Capital addresses the needs of nearly 4.8 crore small-business owners, nearly 75 per cent of the total, who do not have a formal credit history, making it difficult for them to access large-ticket business loans from banks and traditional NBFCs. However, most of these entrepreneurs own a home or shop, which often remains their most valuable but under-utilized asset.

The company Optimo, enables these MSME entrepreneurs to use their property as collateral to access higher loan amounts at lower interest rates compared to unsecured business or personal loans.

By leveraging 77 lakh digital land records and AI-driven processes, Optimo conducts property valuation and title verification swiftly.

This allows it to provide in-principle approvals within hours and complete loan disbursals in under a week, a process that typically takes four to six weeks through traditional lenders.

In just 18 months of operations, Optimo has built a loan book of Rs 350 crore and established branches in 56 cities across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. The company employs a team of 480 professionals.

Remarkably, Optimo became profitable within three months of inception and has maintained profitability for over 15 months, a rare achievement in the fintech lending space.

"Optimo is unlocking India's biggest asset (53 per cent of the nation's wealth) -- its land and property -- by allowing property owners to quickly get secured loans by simply WhatsApping at 7996.796.796," said Prashant Pitti, Founder and Managing Director of Optimo Capital.

He added, "India's Mortgage-to-GDP ratio is just 9 per cent compared to over 50 per cent in developed economies. Clearly, we are not utilizing our biggest wealth to grow our GDP faster."

Ashish Fafadia, Partner at Blume Ventures, said, "Prashant's leadership and disciplined execution are rare in financial services. Optimo is building the blueprint for higher-amount and affordable loans backed by property -- the future of secured lending in India."

Reihem Roy, Partner at Omnivore, added, "The mid-ticket LAP market is a Rs 22 lakh crore opportunity, and only 28 per cent is being met today. Optimo's tech-first model is perfectly timed to fill that gap."

In addition to the equity funding, Optimo has also raised debt worth Rs 110 crore from IDFC Bank and Axis Bank. Several PSU banks and large NBFCs are expected to join as debtors or co-lending partners soon, as the company continues its expansion in India's growing secured lending market.

- ANI