Indian founder of ₹1.15 lakh crore startup says bank denied him home loan, classifies him as 'high-risk' borrower

The founder of an Indian fintech unicorn has claimed that a leading private bank has rejected him 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 his experience on X and highlighted what he described as the irony of the decision. According to Jadhav, the same bank had earlier recognized him as a leading fintech innovator.

“The life of a founder is tough! My home loan application was rejected by a top private bank – just because I’m a founder,” Jadhav wrote.

Unicorn’s founder points to a long banking history and strong credit profile

Raise, the parent company of stock trading platform Dhan, has joined the unicorn club after securing $120 million in Series B funding led by Hornbill Capital in October 2025. The investment valued the Mumbai-based company at $1.2 billion, approx ₹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 paper, he listed several factors that he believed strengthened its application. Jadhav said he has been associated with the bank for more than 25 years and estimates he is among its top 0.1% customers by assets.

“5x-6x 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 above 800 did not change the bank’s decision.

Jadhav pointed out what he saw as a contradiction, noting, “And the irony is that this bank honored me as a top fintech innovator or something like that.”

Social networks respond with similar experiences

Jadhav ended his post with humor, quipping that while the bank was willing to finance houses for his employees, it refused to give him the same trust.

“They can give loan to the team members employed by our company but not to me – because as a founder I am a high risk category. Damn… lagta hai office mein hi rehna padega zindagi bhar…” he wrote.

How social media users reacted:

The post drew widespread attention to X, exceeding 35,000 views in a day, and encouraged users to share similar experiences.

One commenter joked that the businessman simply needed to provide “three months worth of payslips” to satisfy the bank.

Another user, Abhilasha Purwar, said she faced a similar situation when she was trying to buy and ₹1.65 million homes.

“This is why I’m back at work. 4 years ago: I tried to buy a house for 1.65 Cr with 30% down payment, solid credit and history. Loan was denied because I was a founder running a profitable company (despite a 15x payday loan increase),” she wrote.

Another commenter summed up the problem by saying, “Banks understand salary risk better than founder risk, even if the numbers don’t agree.”