Capital India, a finance conglomerate has added another business to its portfolio through strategic investment of USD 25 Million in mixed equity & debt in Credenc, an education lending fin-tech platform.
This is in line with Capital India’s vision to enable digital financial products and services to Indian customers. With this investment, Credenc is looking to build a book of INR 3000 Cr by 2025.
Credenc is a Delhi based fintech founded by Avinash Kumar and Mayank Batheja in 2017 and is a technology-led education loans platform, working as the digital finance desk of
1000+ colleges across 17 cities in India.
SK Narvar, promoter of Capital India, opines that “The annual spend on college fees in India is around the US $50 billion or INR 3.5+ lakh crore, of which only 5% is financed by organized lenders. With Credenc, CIFL intends to change the segment perception and reduce underwriting
risk basis Credenc’s future employability score, which will help this percentage go up to at least
15%, aiming to lend 3000 crores by 2025. Also, the founders will continue to run operations for
Credenc as we would not want to disrupt the working of the organization and believe they know
the business best.”
What makes Credenc unique is that it undertakes a rigorous evaluation process using a proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) model, which tracks 15 million data points to predict the future income of students applying for loans. They provide financial assistance based on student potential and future income instead of the existing financial capability of the family which is typically the primary factor considered by traditional education lenders.
Avinash Kumar, Co-founder, Credenc said, “Our partnership with Capital India is very strategic,
it will give us both balance sheet and cost of capital advantage which will help in disrupting the
education lending segment by providing loans to students who were until now ignored, helping
lakhs of Indian students achieve their potential ”
Credenc offers education loans covering K-12 school fees, online upskilling courses, higher
education as well as study abroad courses at the click of a button and will soon launch India’s first student-focused neo bank. It is currently developing the entire student education ecosystem
helping students & parents with, Credit, Accommodation, Employability, Savings, Forex, and Investments on a mobile app.
Mayank Batheja, Co-founder added, “We are keeping the students at the core of our business and building a digital ecosystem that will serve them like never before. We are making finance and banking simple for Indian students and enabling them to be financially literate and responsible”.
