New Delhi, NFAPost: Capital India Finance Limited (CIFL), a finance conglomerate, has added another business to its portfolio through a strategic investment of $25 Million in mixed equity & debt in Credenc, an education lending fin-tech platform.
This is in line with Capital India’s vision to enable digital financial products and services to Indian customers. With this investment Credenc is looking to build a book of INR 3000 Cr by 2025.
Credenc is a Delhi-based fintech founded by Avinash Kumar and Mayank Batheja in 2017 and is a technology-led education loans platform, working as the digital finance desk of over 1000 colleges across 17 cities in India.
Capital India promoter SK Narvar opines that the annual spend on college fees in India is around $50 billion or Rs 3.5+ lakh crore, of which only 5% is financed by organised lenders.
“With Credenc, CIFL intends to change the segment perception and reduce underwriting risk basis Credenc’s future employability score, which will help this percentage go up to at least 15%, aiming to lend 3000 crores by 2025. Also, the founders will continue to run operations for Credenc as we would not want to disrupt the working of the organisation and believe they know the business best,” said SK Narvar.
What makes Credenc unique is that it undertakes a rigorous evaluation process using a proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) model, which tracks 15 million data points to predict the future income of students applying for loans.
They provide financial assistance based on student potential and future income instead of the existing financial capability of the family which is typically the primary factor considered by traditional education lenders.
Credenc Cofounder Avinash Kumar said the partnership with Capital India is very strategic and it will give Credence both balance sheet and cost of capital advantage.
“It will help in disrupting the education lending segment by providing loans to students who were until now ignored, helping lakhs of Indian students achieve their potential,” said Avinash Kumar.
Credenc offers education loans covering K-12 school fee, online upskilling courses, higher education as well as study abroad courses at the click of a button and will soon launch India’s first student-focused neo bank.
It is currently developing the entire student education ecosystem helping students & parents with, Credit, Accommodation, Employability, Savings, Forex, and Investments on a mobile app.
Credenc Cofounder Mayank Batheja said the company is keeping the students at the core of its business and building a digital ecosystem that will serve them like never before. “We are making finance and banking simple for Indian students and enabling them to be financially literate and responsible,” said Mayank Batheja.
S K Narvar promoted Capital India Finance Limited (CIFL) is an India-focused SME Finance and Affordable housing finance entity. The Company focusses on providing customized financial solutions to Mid Corporates and SMEs for their growth and working capital requirements.
CIFL provides Home Loans in affordable segment through its HFC, Capital India Home Loans. CIFL also offers foreign exchange services through its subsidiary RemitX and financial inclusion services like Domestic Remittance, AEPS, Micro ATM etc via its Fintech subsidiary called RapiPay.
