Education loan provider MPOWER raises $100 mn funding

Global education loan provider MPOWER Financing has raised $100 million (Rs 744 crore) in an equity round of funding from a clutch of new and existing investors.

King Street Capital Management, Drakes Landing Associates, and Pennington Alternative Income Management came onboard as new investors, while existing backers Tilden Park Capital Management and ETS Strategic Capital also participated in this current transaction.

The US-based fintech startup will utilise the fund to directly support students, automate and scale its operations, and to hire more professionals in Bengaluru, a statement said.

“We look forward to supporting an even greater number of qualified students around the globe as they study in the US and Canada,” Emmanuel Smadja, CEO at MPOWER Financing, said.

Launched in 2014 by Smadja, MPOWER, with other offices in Bengaluru, New York City, and Toronto, provides education loans to students to study in the US and Canada.

MPOWER claims that its loans are approved instantly and are granted at competitive interest rates without requiring a cosigner or collateral. MPOWER additionally provides students with academic, financial and career guidance to position them for success both in school and after graduation.  

MPOWER works with over 350 top universities across the US and Canada to provide financing to students from over 200 countries.

The team is additionally backed by Breega, Potencia Ventures, Goal Solutions, Gray Matters Capital, Cometa, AI8, DreamIt, 1776, Village Capital, Fresco, K Street, and University Ventures.

The company had earlier raised nearly $30 million in funding from Tilden Park Capital Management and ETS Strategic Capital.

Several startups focused on education loans have offlate attracted investors attention. In February, Leverage EdTech Pvt. Ltd, which operates university admissions-focused startup Leverage Edu, had raised Rs 47 crore as part of its Series A funding round.  

In August last year, education loan platform Eduvanz Financing Pvt. Ltd had raised $5 million in its Series A round of funding led by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.