Triodos Investment Management has provided $3 million (Rs 27 crore) in funding to Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) Varthana in the form of non-convertible debentures (NCD).
The money raised will be put toward helping more schools and students improve their facilities, infrastructure, and educational foundation.
Varthana Finance was founded in 2013 by Steve Hardgrave and functions as a non-banking finance company (NBFC), lending money to Indian students pursuing higher education and low-income private schools.
It serves more than 8,500 schools and four million students by operating in 15 states. More than 750 lending institutions have partnered with the company, which says it has disbursed over 15,000 loans.
Over the past two fiscal years, the school finance company, based in Bengaluru, has seen a decrease in scale. Between FY21 and FY22, revenue fell to Rs 211 crore; in FY23, it fell even lower to Rs 190 crore.
Dutch in origin Triodos Investment Management prioritizes the areas of food, energy, resources, society, and well-being. It is a fully owned subsidiary of Triodos Bank NV and conducts impact investing business worldwide.
