Credenc, an education loan platform raises $2.5 million (Rs 17.8 crore) in a seed funding round, led by Omidyar Network India.
The funding round also saw participation from EMVC, Better Capital and IIMK Alumni Fund, a statement said.
The start-up intends to build up a loan book of USD 500 million (over Rs 3,500 crore) over the next five years, it added.
“The capital raised shall be used to expand operations to a 1,000 colleges across 50 cities over the next two years. Credenc also plans to hire across technology, credit and banking partnerships,” it said.
The New Delhi-based company was founded by Avinash Kumar and Mayank Batheja in 2017. The start-up has approved loans worth over Rs 100 crore (USD 15 million).
Currently, only 5 per cent of the about USD 50 billion annual spend on college tuition fee is financed by organised lenders and this should be at least 15 per cent, Batheja said.
For the US, this figure stands at more than 60 per cent.
“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 per cent of students from these colleges,” Kumar added.