Fintech Startup Propelld’s NBFC Edgro Raises $25 Mn In Maiden Debt Round

Education-focussed fintech startup Propelld has raised a debt funding of $25 Mn (about INR 208 Cr) for its non-banking financial company (NBFC) Edgro Finance.

This was the NBFC’s maiden funding round, said Nikunj Agarwal, head of debt and lending alliances at Propelld. The round saw participation from nine lenders, including Credit Saison India, AU Small Finance Bank, InCred Financial Services, and Northern Arc Capital.

Agarwal said that Propelld is looking to aggressively scale up its NBFC business and Edgro will use the fresh capital to offer education loans. “We will leverage these funds to ensure that more and more students can access flexible loan options,” he added. 

Founded in 2019 by Bibhu Prasad Das, Victor Senapaty, and Brijesh Samantaray, Propelld provides education loans to borrowers via its online channel. The startup claims it goes beyond traditional credit parameters to focus on students’ learning capabilities and employment potential to assess their eligibility for a loan.

Edgro is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Propelld and commenced operations in October last year.

Talking about Propelld’s future plans, Agarwal said, “On the supply side, we will be ensuring that we have a diversified category of lenders. We would like to scale up existing segments like skill enhancement courses. Secondly, we are bullish on higher education courses and… we are also piloting a couple of distance learning courses.” 

It is pertinent to note that Propelld has multiple lending partnerships. Besides Edgro, it counts Avanse Financial Services, Aditya Birla Capital, JM Financial among its digital lending partners.

The fundraise comes over two years after Propelld raised $35 Mn in its Series B funding round led by WestBridge Capital. Earlier in 2019, the fintech startup bagged $2 Mn from Stellaris Venture Partners and India Quotient. 

Propelld claims to have tie ups with more than 3,000 educational institutes and has disbursed over 2.5 Lakh education loans till date. The startup locks horns with the likes of Skill-Lync, Eduvanz, and GyanDhan in the fast-growing yet underpenetrated education financing market.

Propelld competes in the burgeoning Indian digital lending market, which as per Inc42, is expected to cross the $1.3 Tn mark by 2030.

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