Certus raises $15.7M first close for second India real estate fund
What's the deal? Certus CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a real estate investment and advisory firm founded by former KKR executive Ashish Khandelia, has hit the first close of its second fund, raising Rs 150 crore (around $15.7 million). The Certus India Opportunities Fund 2 targets a Rs 500 crore ($52.4 million) corpus, with a green-shoe option of another Rs 500 crore.
Who's backing it? The fund draws largely on domestic investors, with some participation from non-resident Indians (NRIs). Mumbai-listed Tourism Finance Corporation of India (TFCI)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → came in as a key limited partner, contributing 10% of the target corpus.
What's the endgame? Certus wants to expand its strategy across real estate asset classes as it scales the platform. It targets around 15% net returns from performing real-estate credit investments, focused on mid-market-plus and premium residential projects.
How it works: Certus uses its own balance sheet to close transactions, then sells down portions of the bonds to investors including wealth firms, institutions, and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). "This allows us to recycle capital into new transactions while retaining control over the underlying security structure," Khandelia said.
By the numbers: Since inception, Certus has committed close to Rs 2,500 crore across deals, including two international transactions, and completed eight exits. Its current assets under management stand at more than Rs 1,000 crore.
Why now? Certus deployed Rs 1,000 crore over the three years through FY25, then another Rs 1,000 crore in the six months between January and June 2026. Recent commitments include Rs 275 crore to a last-mile deal with Hyderabad's Vasavi GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Rs 275 crore in a 4S DevelopersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → project on Gurugram's Dwarka Expressway.
The signal: Certus is betting on residential credit, which accounts for 70-75% of its portfolio concentrated in tier-one markets such as Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and NCR. With repeat investors making up more than 70% of its base and roughly 100 new investors joining monthly, the firm is scaling a self-funded model that lets institutions and offshore backers participate on their own terms.
Read more: VC Circle
Image credit: <DEEPAK GUPTA>
