Fin-tech startup Eduvanz secures angel funding

Eduvanz Financing Pvt. Ltd, a Mumbai-based startup that provides loans for skill development, has raised $500,000 (Rs 3.21 crore) in an angel round of funding led by venture capital firm BLinC Management Advisors Pvt. Ltd.

The company has also secured the Reserve Bank of India’s approval to start a non-banking financial company to offer loans, it said in a statement.

Eduvanz said it uses proprietary artificial intelligence-based algorithms and predictive analytics to collate financial and socio-economic data to make lending easier. It added that it will use the funds to strengthen its loan appraisal technology and expand its operations across India.

“Over the next four years, more than 200 million Indians will undergo some form of skill training before they enter the workforce. At Eduvanz, our mission is to financially empower every individual to choose the vocation, skills and career of his/her choice,” said Varun Chopra, co-founder of Eduvanz.

Eduvanz, launched in September 2016, works with training partners, companies and certification providers. The startup was founded by Chopra, Raheel Shah and Atul Sashittal.

Chopra previously worked as a vice-president for the change management team in financial services company Nomura India. Before Nomura, he worked as a business manager for global credit products in Deutsche Global Markets Ltd. He is an MBA from IIT Madras and a graduate in information technology from Delhi University.

Shah is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a chemical engineer from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Matunga (Mumbai).

Sashittal has 25 years of experience in the field of information technology. He has worked with companies like logistics firm DHL Worldwide Express, investment bank CLSA Ltd and financial services firm Angel Broking Ltd.

Blinc Advisors was founded by Amit Ratanpal in 2014. Apart from Eduvanz, Blinc’s portfolio includes equity crowdfunding platform 1 Crowd as well as ed-tech startups Imarticus and GenNext Students.

Eduvanz joins a number of startups that provide education loans to raise funding. In June last year, for instance, GyanDhan, an online marketplace for education loans operated by Delhi-based Senbonzakura Consultancy Pvt. Ltd, secured an undisclosed amount from Sundaram Finance Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Chennai-based non-banking financial company Sundaram Finance Ltd.