Prabhat Ranjan, one of the two co-founders of real estate dedicated investment firm cum developer Brick Eagle, has floated a separate firm focused on affordable housing christened Olympeo Infrastructure. This firm has secured an undisclosed amount in funding from Praxis Venture, the investment arm of US-based e-learning company Praxis Technology, for the first project, it said on Tuesday.
Brick Eagle was started by Ranjan and Rajesh Krishnan to focus on affordable housing by raising funds and engaging in project development directly.
Brick Eagle and Olympeo Infrastructure will operate as separate entities and might collaborate with one another in the future. Brick Eagle has its own development arm and raises capital to buy land and then ties up with a development partner. In some cases, it develops the project itself.
When contacted by VCCircle, Ranjan did not share details of why he chose to float a separate entity but added that going forward, Olympeo will secure private funding from various channels.
“The project has secured funding at SPV level through equity and we are in talks with family offices for our upcoming projects,” said Ranjan, chairman and managing director, Olympeo Infrastructure.
The company will focus primarily on affordable housing, as it sees a good amount of demand in this space. “Here demand outpaces supply and the presence of organised players in affordable section is very low. We would like to capitalise on that,” Ranjan said.
The first project of the company will offer 1&2 BHK apartments starting from Rs 13 lakh. Spread across 25 acres, the project is located in Neral-Karjat belt in Mumbai and will throw up more than 1,500 units.
The company is developing its first project and aims to have 2 million sq ft under various stages of development by the end of 2015.
Other players involved in the construction of affordable housing include Purvankara through Provident Housing. Recently, Supertech and Raheja Developers ventured into the space in collaboration with Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).
Also ATS Infrastructure promoter had floated a similar venture Jeevan Geet, separate from his own flagship company which is into mid- to high-end residential properties.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
