Indian founder of ₹1.15 lakh crore startup says bank denied him home loan, classified him as 'high-risk' borrower
The founder of an Indian fintech unicorn has claimed that a leading private bank turned down his home loan application because he was classified as
The founder of an Indian fintech unicorn has claimed that a leading private bank turned down his home loan application because he was classified as a "high-risk" borrower due to his status as an entrepreneur. Pravin Jadhav, founder and CEO of Raise Financial Services, shared the experience on X, highlighting what he described as the irony of the decision. According to Jadhav, the same bank had previously honoured him as a leading fintech innovator. "Founder's life is hard! My home loan application got rejected by a top private bank - just because I am a founder," Jadhav wrote. Also Read | How loan settlement helped a woman in her 20s burdened with ₹30 lakh debt Unicorn founder points to long banking history and strong credit profile Raise, the parent company of stock trading platform Dhan, entered the unicorn club after securing $120 million in a Series B funding round led by Hornbill Capital in October 2025.
The investment valued the Mumbai-based company at $1.2 billion, approximately ₹11,551 crore. Despite co-founding one of India's fastest-growing fintech firms, Jadhav said the bank still considered him too risky to lend to. In his post, he listed several factors that he believed strengthened his application. Jadhav said he had been associated with the bank for over 25 years and estimated that he ranked among its top 0.1% customers by assets. Also Read | Keep home loan EMI below 30% of your income to protect your finances "5 6x of loan value in relationship with this bank," he wrote, referring to the size of his banking relationship. He added that even an excellent CIBIL score of over 800 did not change the bank's decision.
Drawing attention to what he saw as a contradiction, Jadhav remarked: "And irony is this bank felicitated me as top fintech innovator or something like that.." Social media reacts with similar experiences Ending his post with humour, Jadhav joked that while the bank was willing to finance homes for his employees, it refused to extend the same trust to him. "They can give a loan to team members our company employs, but not me - because as founder I'm a high-risk category. Damn... lagta hai office mein hi rehna padega zindagi bhar…" he wrote. Also Read | Home loan interest can reduce capital gains tax on property sale, rules ITAT How social media users reacted: The post drew widespread attention on X, crossing 35,000 views within a day and prompting users to share similar experiences.
The BriefWire