BackEduvanz raises $5 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia India
In the first six months of 2020, Indian edtech startups raised close to $795 million compared with $108 million in the year-ago period, according to data from Venture Intelligence
PremiumBENGALURU: Digital non-banking company Eduvanz has raised $5 million as part of its Series A round led by Sequoia India, along with existing investor Unitus Ventures.
According to the four year-old company, the funds will be utilised to create technologies around artificial intelligence-based risk management, and easier collections to support borrowers through their lending journey. The company will also look at creating new credit products and expand its reach to tier 2 and 3 geographies in India.
Eduvanz provides loans to students for upskilling as well as school fees, and leverages parameters like social media scores, education scores as well as taking guardians or parents as guarantors, to enhance its underwriting process.
Its customers also include salaried/ self-employed individuals looking to upskill/cross-skill themselves, and the K-12 segment comprising parents looking for flexible fee payment solutions for schools, coaching, and test preparation.
"Over the next decade, our country will need skilled workforces trained in new technologies and new skills. By 2022, we need 700 million skilled workers. However, only 10% of the total workforce receives any formal skill training. By combining innovative student-centric loan solutions, Eduvanz is enabling higher enrollment for learners across colleges, universities, certification partners, institutes, and schools," said Varun Chopra, chief executive, Eduvanz.
Loans are provided in collaboration with educational institutions via a fully digitised end-to-end platform.
“There is a large unmet credit need for education in India. Eduvanz is catering to this by building a differentiated lending business with exceptional credit quality. Their future employability-based underwriting approach will make education and skilling more accessible to accelerate a diverse range of careers," said Ashish Agrawal, principal, Sequoia Capital India LLP.
Eduvanz aims to disburse ₹400-500 crore in loans over the next two years. Since inception, it has enabled over 10,000+ borrowers, deploying more than ₹150 crores in loans. Till date, Eduvanz has helped skill-seekers across more than 240 cities, and partnered with more than 300 institutes in the country.
The covid-19 pandemic has caused a positive shift towards Indian edtech space, as schools and universities moved to online mode to continue with classes. This has caused investors to look aggressively at Indian edtech startups.
In the first six months of 2020, Indian edtech startups raised close to $795 million compared with $108 million in the year-ago period, according to data from Venture Intelligence research.
Startups, including unicorn BYJU’s, Vedantu, Toppr and Unacademy have all raised funds this year, and are gearing for their next round of funding.
Recently, BYJU’s also acquired online edtech platform, which provides online coding to school students for $300 million, which is touted to be one of the biggest exits in the Indian edtech space.
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