Sequoia, Unitus back student loans platform Eduvanz

Eduvanz Financing, which runs an eponymous online student loans platform, is raising about $3 million (Rs 23 crore) in a Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital and Vistra ITCL, an entity of Unitus Seed Fund India II.

Sequoia will make the investment from its SCI investment VI, according to Eduvanz’s latest regulatory filings.

Redwood Trust and QED Innovation Labs will also participate in the round, the filings showed.

According to the filings, Eduvanz will allocate 77,067 Series A shares at a face value of Rs 100 and premium of Rs 2891.31 for each share amounting to a total consideration of Rs 23,05,31,287.77.

The company has already received Rs 4 lakh ($5,346) from Redwood Trust in exchange for 136 Series A compulsorily convertible cumulative preference shares (CCCPS). Overall, Redwood will invest Rs 12.59 lakh ($16,828) for 421 Series A shares.

Sequoia’s SCI Investment VI fund will invest Rs 17.83 crore ($2.3 million) for 59,626 Series A CCCPS. Vistra ITCL, on behalf of Unitus Seed Fund India II, will pick up 14,678 shares worth Rs 4.39 crore ($586,000) and QED Innovation Labs will invest Rs 70 lakh ($93,000) for 2,342 shares.

Prior to this, the company had raised capital in April 2019, when it received $2 million from impact investor Unitus Ventures and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

Previously, the company received its NBFC license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2017 and raised $500,000 in an angel round of funding led by venture capital firm BLinC Management Advisors in February 2018.

Founded in 2016 by Varun Chopra, Raheel Shah and Atul Sashittal, Eduvanz Financing is a non-banking financial corporation (NBFC) and private finance company that claims to offer low-interest loans to students. The company uses artificial intelligence-based algorithms and predictive analytics to collate financial and socio-economic data to lend to potential borrowers.

Eduvanz has also partnered with more than 80 institutes such as Imarticus, K-11, and ISBM to help its student borrowers with placement and scholarship support. It competes with startups such as Omidyar Network backed Credenc, FinancePeer and GyanDhan.