Omidyar Network leads seed round in fintech startup Credenc

New Delhi-headquartered education loan startup Credenc has raised $2.5 million in a seed round led by Omidyar Network India.

Fintech and insurance-tech focused fund Emphasis Ventures (EMVC), venture capital firm Better Capital and the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) Alumni Fund also participated in the funding round.

The company will use the capital to expand its operations to 1,000 colleges across 50 cities and will hire talent for technology, credit and banking partnership roles.

Founded in 2017 by former CarDekho executives Avinash Kumar and Mayank Batheja, Credenc claims to work with over 200 management colleges across 17 cities in India. The company has approved loans worth over $15 million.

“Our target segment consists of the top 10,000 colleges in India, and we would like to ensure that we are available for the top 10% of students from these colleges,” said Avinash Kumar, co-founder at Credenc in a statement.

About 5% of the $50 billion (Rs 3.5 lakh crore) annual spend on college fees in India is financed by organised players, according to the statement.

Credenc says it uses a proprietary artificial intelligence model to evaluate 15 data points to predict future income of students and their potential for paying loans. The startup has mapped 70,000 job roles across 50,000 companies in India for its data on employability. It also assists students in applying for professional roles after the completion of their education.

“Credenc’s differentiated lending model provides financing to deserving students, which helps them access post-secondary education and get meaningful employment,” said Sarvesh Kanodia, an associate at Omidyar Network India in his statement.

Similar deals:

• School fee financing company FincancePeer raised $706,000 in an angel round in September from PitchRight Ventures and other individual investors
• In December 2018, Gray Matter Capital invested $125,000 in the education finance marketplace  GyanDhan