The shortage of affordable housing in India is estimated at 18.78 million homes – and this number is expected to grow to 46 million by 2022. The housing deficit is both quantitative as new houses are needed and qualitative because there is a need to repair and improve homes that are made out of temporary material such as thatch roofs or mud walls.This significant deficit must be urgently addressed. About 56% of the demand for urban housing comes from the economically weaker sections (EWS), and 40% comes from Low Income Groups (LIG) segments. To address these issues, the ShelterTech Accelerator is committed to find innovative solutions by tapping startups and entrepreneurs working on housing solutions for low-income households.
Who should apply
We are looking for market based and scalable solutions that solve some of the critical challenges in affordable housing. This means your startup should have a for-profit and scalable business model. We are quite keen to look at startups that are building innovative and scalable solutions that
- Exclusively target stakeholders of the affordable housing ecosystem. This means tailored solutions (B2B, B2C or B2B2C) for the affordable housing segment.
or
- May not necessary target affordable housing as the only segment. Startups can be serving adjacent markets, but have the ability (and economic viability) to build use cases for the affordable housing market.
Generally, all startups that we select would be required to have
- For profit business models, AND
- A full-time committed founding team
Finally, while preference is given to startups with existing pilots, early customer traction or even sales, we realize that affordable housing is a tough market to crack open. If you wish to apply only with an idea and no validation of your product or proof of concept, make sure that you backup your application with evidence and details about your intellectual property, business background, team and anything else that you may need to make us to understand and endorse your solution.
To apply, please click here.
Deadline: October 30, 2018
