Student oriented lending startup Eduvanz raises $500K, gets RBI nod for NBFC

Edtech startup Eduvanz that provides loans for skill development to students, has raised $500,000 in a round of funding led by venture capital fund Blinc Advisors. The company will utilize the funds for strengthening its AI based lending technology for loan appraisal and expansion.

Besides the funding, the Mumbai-based financing company has also received a licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for starting its non-banking financial company.

Queries sent to Eduvanz by Entrackr did not receive an immediate response.

According to Varun Chopra, co-founder of Eduvanz, the RBI licence will help the company to become India’s leading lender for vocational courses, on-job training programs and certifications programs, reports Mint.

Eduvanz lets students avail unsecured education loans instantly through an online platform.

Founded in 2016 by Chopra, Raheel Shah, and Atul Sashittal, the startup works with training partners, corporates and certification providers spanning more than 16 industry sectors to increase their enrolments by providing innovative financial solutions to students and skill-seekers.

Also Read: With 3.5 lakh loan disbursals, KrazyBee claims to process Rs 100 Cr loan to students

The financing company uses proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) based algorithms and predictive analytics to collate financial and socio-economic data from conventional and non-conventional sources to make lending easier for skill development.

With the emergence of new technology, traditional banking and finance sectors are ripe for disruption. Right from personal banking to fund transfer, buying financial products (insurance, SIPs) are shifting online.

Over the past two years, student-focused lending space has been changing as tech-driven platforms such as Krazybee, Creditmate, Slicepay and many others are solving the ‘loan access’ pain for students seeking credits.

According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), NBFC loans have grown at 16.6 percent, compared to 8.8 percent for the banking sector this year.

The RBI’s Financial Stability Report (December 2016) showed a 33.1 percent increase in loan and advances given by deposit-taking NBFCs and a 12.5 percent increase in advances given by the non-deposit-taking NBFCs.

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