[Funding alert] Education financing startup Propelld raises Rs 15 Cr from Stellaris Venture Partners and India Quotient
Propelld, a Bengaluru-based fintech startup that enables student education loans, on Monday, announced that it has raised Rs 15 crore from Stellaris Venture Partners and India Quotient.
Existing investor India Angel Network Fund (IAN Fund) also participated in the round. Other investors in the round include Raghunandan G, founder of Taxiforsure and Ramakant Sharma, founder of Livspace, who participated as members of Stellaris’ Founder Network.
Bibhu Prasad Das, Founder, Propelld said,
“We are expanding the education credit market by creating tailor-made loan products with inputs from our institute and NBFC partners, so that default risk is identified early, and the downside is shared between the stakeholders.”
The startup last secured a seed round of Rs 1.7 crore from IAN in 2018.
Propelld has tied with over 150 educational institutes across the country and extended loans to more than 1500 students so far. With this funding, it plans to increase its base of institutes and students 10x over the next 18 months.
Founded in 2017 by Bibhu Prasad Das, Victor Senapaty and Brijesh Samantaray, Propelld helps provide financing to students pursuing vocational training in areas ranging from machine learning to hospitality management. The startup uses proprietary employability-based underwriting algorithm to assess the future employment prospects and creditworthiness of its customers. It caters to those who do not have access to formal bank credit.
Ritesh Banglani, Partner, Stellaris Venture Partners said,
“Education financing is a massive under-served opportunity in India where a tiny percentage of students have access to bank credit. Propelled can determine the students’ future income and consequently offer credit to a much larger student population.”
Anand Lunia, Founding Partner, India Quotient added,
“Propelld is bringing education loans to the point of delivery of the course, providing convenience to the student and higher conversion to the institute. Their technology-based approval processes ensure quick loan approvals without compromising on rigorous risk underwriting”.
Apart from Propelld, two Tamil Nadu-based education lending startups also secured funding recently including Finwego, which received $1.7 million (about Rs 11.84 crore) from venture capital firm SAIF Partners last month, and Shiksha Finance raised Rs 55 crore led by private equity fund Zephyr Peacock India Growth Fund in February 2019.
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