Eduvanz Bags $5 Mn In Series A Round To Provide Seamless Borrower Experience Founded by Varun Chopra and Raheel Shah in 2016, Eduvanz aims to disburse INR 400-500 crore in loans over the next 2 years

Mumbai-based digital non-banking firm Eduvanz on Thursday announced that it has raised $5 million funding in Series A round led by Sequoia India. The firm's existing investor Unitus too took part in the round.

The firm that claims to provide affordable and convenient education loans will be using fresh funds to create seamless borrower experience with secure, innovative, scalable, and agile technologies to support the lending cycle. The company will invest on new credit products, artificial intelligence (AI) based risk management to help borrowers through their journey. The said funds will also be utilized to expand its operations in tier 2 and 3 cities in India with a larger team.

The four-year-old firm provides credits to various age students who are unable to afford the education expenses. The non-bank lender provides credits based on parameters like social media scores, education scores, taking guardians or parents as guarantors, to enhance its underwriting process.

The firm provides loans to students in collaboration with educational institutes. It gives loans starting at zero per cent interest. Eduvanz's customer base varies from salaried/self-employed individuals who are willing to upskill/cross skill, students looking for skill certifications, and the K12 segment comprising parents looking for a simpler fees payment solution.

Commenting on the work Eduvanz does, Varun Chopra, chief executive officer, Eduvanz said,

"We are solving problems directly linked to nation-building as well as growth of the Indian industry. 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, robust risk-assessment with cutting edge digital lending technology, Eduvanz is enabling higher enrollment for learners across colleges, universities, certification partners, institutes, and schools."

Ashish Agrawal, principal, Sequoia Capital India said, "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. This will be even more critical in the post Covid-19 economy which has triggered an urgent need for skilling and re-skilling as businesses undergo massive digital transformations needing the workforce to evolve and keep up."

Founded by Varun Chopra and Raheel Shah in 2016, Eduvanz aims to disburse INR 400-500 crore in loans over the next 2 years. The company since 2016, boasts to have deployed over INR 150 crores in loans to over 10,000+ borrowers with close to ~0 per cent credit losses. Till date, Eduvanz has helped skill-seekers across 240+ cities with 300+ institute partnerships covering 25+ skills industries. Last year in April, the startup raised funding worth $2 million from Unitus Ventures and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation in a pre series A round.