Initiative Ireland, the peer-to-peer "ethical lender" that provides finance to developers building social and private housing is in discussions to raise a further €5m in expansion capital.
It comes after the environmental, social and corporate governance focused finance company hit its milestone of lending over €125m since it launched six years ago.
The lending has led to the construction of 950 energy efficient social and private homes around the country, it claims.
The business lends money on behalf of funding institutions and businesses here with the aim of not only earning returns but also delivering positive social outcomes.
"We launched Initiative Ireland in 2017, backed by a small group of investors, with the goal of helping to tackle an emerging housing crisis, by supporting social and affordable private housing schemes," said Padraig W. Rushe, Chief Executive of Initiative Ireland.
"There are 950 families spread across Ireland who will have a home, thanks to the hard work of our team and our borrowers. That's a huge part of why we do what we do."
Since 2017 Initiative Ireland has also evolved into an alternative lender and is now seeking to boost its growth and expand its finance offering over the next five years with additional funding.
"It has taken years for Initiative Ireland to build up the scale and momentum we’ve achieved thus far, but in many ways, we’re just getting started," said Padraig M. Rushe, co-founder and Initiative Ireland Chief Credit Officer.
"As we grow, our focus remains to help developers deliver quality homes across Ireland at prices that everyday people can access and afford."
As well as financing private housing development schemes for open-market sale, Initiative Ireland also works with developers and approved housing bodies to support social housing schemes nationwide.
"Social housing is an essential part of tackling the housing crisis," Mr Rushe said.
"That’s why we have reduced our pricing for pre-contracted social housing schemes, where our funders can be assured of the clear social outcome."
"We aim to be a lender of first choice for private and social housing developers alike. We understand that price is a big part of that choice as well as trust."
