Lodha Developers Pvt. Ltd, the country’s largest real estate developer in terms of sales, has launched its maiden investment fund for start-ups focused on smart city solutions and the overall real estate sector, it said in a statement on January 4.
With an initial investment corpus of Rs 50 crore, the fund will invest in start-ups at all stages of the development cycle.
Launching the fund, Lodha Developers Managing Director Abhishek Lodha said, “our fund’s philosophy is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three core campaigns—Startup India, Housing for All and demonetisation. The real estate sector is unarguably an important sector for India’s economy, being the second- largest employer in the country after agriculture. As India ushers in a new era on the back of path-breaking policy changes such as demonetisation, Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act and GST, the sector too will reap benefits in the long run…Our fund will address the prevailing inefficiencies in the sector with the use of technology and smart solutions.”
Within real estate, the company will look at all aspects of the value chain, right from digital marketing to analytics and from customer relationship management to smart city services.
“We have been working in a focused manner to establish this platform over the last few months. Two or three business ideas have been already vetted and the first round of investments will be completed by March 2017. With the launch of the Start-up Investment Fund, the company will bring significant expertise, knowledge and resources for the technology-led solution providers which aim to serve the smart city and real estate space and enable the real estate sector to contribute in a bigger manner to our nation’s employment and economic growth,” Lodha added.
In financial year 2015-16, Lodha generated about Rs8,000 crore of gross sales, higher than any other developer, but fell short of its own ambitious sales forecast of Rs9,000 crore. This year, the developer has again set a target to hit the gross sales mark of Rs9,000 crore.
It is currently developing around 4.1 crore sq. ft of prime residential real estate, while it has 31 ongoing projects across London, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune and Hyderabad. In the last financial year, Lodha Group delivered 6,800 units across projects.
With offices in London, Dubai and Shanghai and planned openings in the US and Singapore, Lodha Group is on the road to a substantial international presence.
In October, the Indian unit of international property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) also set up a real estate technology investment division to invest in growth-stage firms that develop technology solutions in the real estate sector. The new entity, which is funded by JLL’s (global) proprietary capital, has made its first investment, an undisclosed amount in Foyr.com, a Hyderabad-based firm offering technology and products for real estate and interior design firms.
Source: Mint
