Exclusive: GrayQuest raises Series A led by Pravega Ventures

Education loans focused fintech startup GrayQuest has raised Rs 30.95 crore or $3.75 million in a Series A round led by Pravega Ventures with a participation of VIC Enterprises and Stallion Ventures along with existing backers.

With this, the Mumbai-based company has marked its first fundraise in 2022.

The board at GrayQuest has passed a special resolution to issue 9,408 Series A compulsory convertible preference shares (CCPS) at an issue price of Rs 32,897.36 per share to raise Rs 30.95 crore or $3.75 million, as per the company’s regulatory filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

Pravega Ventures has spearheaded the Series A round with Rs 10 crore followed by VIC Enterprises who poured in Rs 3 crore. Astra Industries and Trading Pvt Ltd, Nine Advisors Pvt Ltd, Crest Capital via Crest Opportunities Pvt Ltd, Stallion Ventures, Keshav Mishra, Kotta Enterprises, and Dharmendra Siraj infused Rs 2 crore each.

The remaining sum was invested by Apurva Parekh, Saswad Finance Pvt Ltd, Kabita Kharbanda, Siddharth Patodia and others.

As per Fintrackr’s estimates, the company has been valued at around Rs 200 crore or close to $25 million (post-money). GrayQuest has raised around $6 million to date including a pre-Series A round worth $1.2 million in August 2020.

Launched in 2017, GrayQuest is an integrated fee collection platform for educational institutions which enables parents to pay annual education fees in flexible monthly installments with zero interest. The company claims to have served around 10 lakh parents with over 2,500 partnership institutions across 36K pincodes.

Following the allotment of Series A, Pravega Ventures holds 5.10% shares followed by Nine Advisors, VIC Enterprises, Astra Industries and Trading which own 1.88%, 1.53%, and 1.45% stakes in the company. Crest Capital, Stallion Ventures, Keshav Mishra, Kotta Enterprises, and Dharmendra Siraj acquired 1.02% cap table each. The complete shareholding pattern of the company can be seen below:

While GrayQuest is yet to file its financial numbers for FY22, it reported an operating revenue of Rs 1 crore with a loss of Rs 4.62 crore in FY21.

GrayQuest competes with the likes of Financepeer, Eduvanz, and Propelld. In April, Financepeer raised $38 million in a Series B round led by QED Fund while Eduvanz raised around $13.5 million led by Sequoia Capital in August 2021, both of the companies were valued at $70 million following their respective fundraises.