Retail direct equity bets fall, MF holdings rise to new high
Source: The Economic Times
05 May 2026
“Shubham has initiated preliminary talks with bankers. The contours of the issue are still being worked out,” said one of the people cited above. “A filing is being explored this fiscal year, subject to market conditions.”
Responding to Mint’s queries, chief financial officer Vishal Kanodia said the firm sees an IPO as a “logical next step” given its current stage, but added that “the matter has not been formally discussed or settled with all stakeholders”.
While Kanodia said banker interactions are part of the company’s regular course of business, he added that the firm is actively tracking market conditions. “The company is keeping a close watch on the market and will decide after looking at developments in the near future in consultation with stakeholders and the board,” he said.
The company has raised about $237 million to date from investors including Premji Invest, LeapFrog Investments, Multiples Alternate Asset Management and British International Investment. It has scaled to around ₹7,500 crore ($825 million) in assets under management as of December 2025, and operates more than 200 branches across 12 states.
India's home loan market was worth $430.74 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach $809.07 billion by 2031 at a compound annual growth rate of 13.44%. The market is riding on rapid urbanization and housing formation that now extends well beyond the metros into tier-2 and tier-3 cities as employment centers diffuse and transport, water, and sanitation networks expand, according to a report by Mordor Intelligence.
Public and private funding
If it does go ahead with its IPO plans, Shubham will join a growing list of specialised housing finance firms looking to tap the public markets as valuations improve and funding conditions ease. Last month, Warburg Pincus-backed Truhome Finance filed its draft papers with Sebi to raise ₹3,000 crore through an IPO. In January, Hindu BusinessLine reported, citing founder Nirmal Jain, that IIFL Finance’s board may consider listing its housing finance arm, IIFL Home Finance, through a demerger or similar structure.
Meanwhile, the segment has also seen continued inflows of private capital. In August, Ummeed Housing Finance secured ₹250 crore from British International Investment (BII), which also backed Altum Credo Home Finance in a ₹170 crore round. In March, Weaver Services Pvt. Ltd acquired a majority stake in Centrum Housing Finance after raising ₹1,450 crore from Premji Invest, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Gaja Capital and others.
Mansi Verma
Mansi Verma is a senior correspondent covering private capital in India for Mint. Think of strategy shifts, private equity and venture capital deals, the companies trying to go public, and occasionally, the ones falling apart.She moved into this beat in 2022, and has been following it closely since. Prior to Mint, Mansi worked at Moneycontrol, where she covered jobs and edtech, reporting extensively on the 2022–2024 startup and IT layoffs cycle. Her work during this period focused on what happens to fast-growing companies when capital dries up, combining financial reporting with human-interest stories.Mansi reported closely on Byju’s during a critical phase in its unravelling, and has since built a strong understanding of edtech businesses, particularly unicorns, and the deeper structural challenges in education that many of them have struggled to solve. At Mint, she follows the flow of capital across VC and PE deals, exits and IPO pipelines, while also tracking large investment firms, and the financial services sector.Outside of the newsroom, Mansi spends time exploring how technology is changing the way people think and work, while actively attempting to build a critical thinking human brain in the age of short-form everything.She holds a Master’s degree in journalism and has moderated industry discussions on financial services and investments.
