SAIF Partners leads seed investment in fintech startup Finwego

Education-focussed fintech startup Finwego on Wednesday said it has raised $1.7 million (Rs 12 crore) in its seed funding round led by venture capital fund SAIF Partners.

The round also saw participation from a group of high net-worth individuals (HNIs) and angel investors.

The company plans to utilise the funds for expansion, growing a profitable book and strengthening technology and data infrastructure. The company also plans to apply for an NBFC licence. The company will soon be starting operations in other Indian states, a press statement said.

“With the infusion of new funds, we are looking to build a high caliber team and digital infrastructure to support our robust growth plans. We plan to reach out to 10,000-plus schools over the next 5 years and have a pan India presence,” said Shiv Vadivelalagan, co-founder and chief executive officer, Finwego.

Finwego was founded last year by Stanford University alumnus Shiv Vadivelalagan, and Harvard University alumnus Pavee Ramanisankar. Finwego delivers lending products to all stakeholders of the school ecosystem. It caters to school management, parents, teachers, and vendors and acts as a one-stop-shop for all their financial needs.

The startup was incubated at the Harvard Innovation Labs and was the winner of the Harvard Innovation Challenge last year.

Chennai-based Finwego claims to have on-boarded more than 200 schools in the last six months and is planning to expand to more than 1,000 by the end of this financial year.

With geographic expansion on the cards, Finwego said it will also be focusing on developing innovative products that are relevant for their target group. With a team of 30 members, the startup is also looking to double its size within three months.

Recent deals in the segment

• June 2019: Gurugram-based fintech platform GroMo raised Rs 4 crore in a seed funding round led by angel investors, namely, Livspace founder Ramakant Sharma and AngelList India partner, Utsav Somani.
• May 2019: Insurance marketplace Policybazaar raised $152 million in the first tranche of a Series F funding round led by Softbank Vision Fund.
• May 2019: Mumbai-based Nomisma Mobile Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which owns digital payments and loans platform Ftcash, raised Rs 50 crore ($7.1 million) in a Series A round of funding led by US non-profit firm Accion International and Dutch development bank FMO.