Student loan fintech Kuhoo raises $20 million from West Bridge Capital

Student loan fintech platform Kuhoo on Tuesday said it has raised $20 million seed fund from West Bridge Capital.

The platform aims to provide online loans to students aspiring to study in universities both in India and abroad. Kuhoo said it is the first student loan provider to offer products across various streams like engineering, MBA, executive education, online courses, coaching classes, and even new-age courses.

Prashant A. Bhonsle, founder, Kuhoo said many talented students do not apply to good universities because they worry about burdening their parents with high costs of fees and living expenses.

"We want to change this. At Kuhoo, we combine our vast experience with advanced technology and data science to create risk and credit models. These models help us evaluate students' potential employability and future incomes for various courses students enroll in. With this unique ability, Kuhoo can offer different products best suited to individual profiles of students from varied family backgrounds,” said Bhonsle.

Kuhoo said it will be partnering with banks and other NBFCs along with top colleges and coaching centres across the world.

Deepak Ramineedi, partner, West Bridge Capital, said, “We have closely followed the Indian education sector for over a decade now. With the rising costs of education, we believe that India needs loan providers who comprehensively understand the problems of students, parents, and academic institutes. Assessing future employability & income of students are two of the biggest challenges for existing banks and NBFCs that are offering student loans.”