Fixing India’s Mortgage System with AI: The Story of Suhail & Butter Money
Suhail Manocha is a fintech founder who turned a frustrating home loan experience into Butter Money, an AI-first platform rethinking how mortgages work in India. Read his founder story here.
Suhail Manocha is a fintech founder on a mission to make India’s mortgage experience work better for home buyers. Backed by over a decade of experience in strategy, operations, and product roles, Suhail left corporate life to build Butter Money- an AI-led platform designed to simplify home loans and stay with customers long after disbursal.
Starting my own company was never a question for me; it was always a matter of when.
As a kid, I wanted to become a fighter pilot. It felt like the most direct way to do something for the country. When that didn’t work out, the need to contribute didn’t disappear. It just took a different shape. Somewhere along the way, I became very clear that I wanted to build something of my own in India- something that created value, created jobs, and gave back in a meaningful way.
Entrepreneurship seemed like the best use of whatever strengths I had,
When startups in India started gaining mainstream attention- when Flipkart and other founders began showing that large, meaningful companies could be built from here- it definitely made the idea feel more real, more achievable.
The Long Way Around
Before taking the plunge, I followed a fairly conventional path. I did my engineering. Then I did my MBA. Not because I wanted a safe life, but because I believed that getting into good institutions would give me exposure to people, ideas, and possibilities I hadn’t grown up around.
The next 12 years of my life were spent across management consulting firms, Fortune 500 companies, and early-stage startups, and those years shaped how I think.
And when I felt ready, I didn’t overthink it anymore. I took the leap.
Fintech was an obvious choice for me- it sat right at the intersection of my education, my work experience, and my interest in solving complex, high-impact problems.
The First Leap Didn’t Land
In 2024, I left my job and started my first company, TurboCap, which focused on supply chain financing for MSMEs.
On paper, it made sense. The market was significant. The problem was real. But startups don’t fail on spreadsheets alone. As I went deeper, I realised something important- founder–problem fit matters more than we admit.
That phase was challenging. There’s no glamour in shutting something down. But it taught me lessons I couldn’t have learned any other way- about pricing, negotiation, risk assessment, and most importantly, humility.
A Problem I Lived Through
While dealing with my own home loan during the house possession period, I discovered something unsettling. My EMI had stopped getting deducted. Interest was getting capitalised. And my loan amount had silently ballooned by ₹3- 4 lakhs- without clear communication.
What followed were months of running between banks, trying to get things corrected, and eventually filing a complaint with the RBI Ombudsman.
That experience made me pause and think- if this was so hard for someone like me, how difficult must it be for a first-time home buyer?
I interviewed over 200 individuals, ran surveys, and spoke to professionals across the lending ecosystem. What I discovered was eye-opening.
The home-buying and mortgage experience in India is incredibly broken. Despite being a massive market, the process is opaque, stressful, and exclusionary- especially for freelancers and self-employed individuals who often struggle even to get access to loans.
That’s when Butter Money was born.
What We’re Building
Butter Money is an AI-based mortgage platform designed to simplify the entire home loan journey from origination and EMI calculation to asset evaluation and long-term servicing.
What truly differentiates us is that we don’t disappear after disbursal. We stay with the customer for the entire loan tenure- 10, 15, even 20 years- ensuring the experience remains smooth, transparent, and fair.
The Quiet Wins
I’ve realised that in startups, milestones look very different from the outside.
Some months, just surviving and showing up every day feels like a win. Raising angel funding was a big milestone for us, especially because many of our investors are people I’ve worked with before, including former bosses. Their belief meant more than the cheque.
Closing our founding team was another critical moment. It felt like the beginning of something that could actually scale.
The Support System
Entrepreneurship is never a solo journey, no matter how it may be portrayed. Having someone who stands by you through the uncertainty makes all the difference.
My parents have always encouraged risk-taking- trying new things, stepping outside comfort zones, and not being afraid of failure. My younger brother is also a startup founder, which says a great deal about the environment in which we grew up.
My wife has also been my biggest support system through all of this. My wife and I try to make it a ritual- once every couple of weeks, we step away from work, phones, and endless to-do lists, and watch a movie together. It’s a small habit, but it keeps me grounded and works as a switch-off button for me amidst all the chaos.
And, when things get tough, as they often do, I remind myself and my team that life, especially startup life, is a sine curve. There will always be more bad days than good ones. The key is to stay optimistic about the end goal and keep moving forward.
One Piece of Advice for Founders
I’m still early in this journey, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: keep pushing forward.
If you have a purpose and you stay consistent, success will come- early for some, later for others. With time, there will always be something to look back on and cherish.
If not this, then what…
Honestly, I haven’t thought about an alternative for a long time. Maybe I would have joined the army. But even then, I know I would have eventually wanted to build something of my own.
Because at the end of the day, the goal has always been the same- to create value, in one way or another.
Suhail is the kind of founder who builds with honesty and intent. He’s thoughtful, grounded, and deeply committed to learning from the journey- especially when things don’t go as planned. What stands out is his willingness to start again, apply hard-earned lessons, and keep building with purpose.
It’s this quiet resilience and customer-first mindset that makes his journey genuinely inspiring for us at Razorpay Rize.
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