Propelld, a Bengaluru-based education focused fintech platform, has raised $35 million in Series B funding round led by WestBridge Capital, along with existing investors Stellaris Venture Partners and India Quotient.
With the current funding round, Propelld said it plans to grow the loan book rapidly in a segment with low credit penetration, and offer new products for various verticals within education. Currently employing around 150, the startup plans to add another 100-150 employees over the next year across technology, business development and collections.
Bibhu Prasad Das, Co-founder, CEO at Propelld, said,
“We would like to thank all our institute and lending partners who have believed in us. With the latest capital infusion we will strive towards building better financial products for the educational ecosystem which will further benefit our partners.”
"India spends over $90 billion annually in education, however the financial penetration is still very low. Propelld aims to address this gap and increase education loan accessibility to students through tech based products. We believe Propelld will become the go-to financial player in the education domain just as we’ve seen strong vertical-focused financial players in other domains like Affordable Housing, SME Lending, Consumer Durables etc,” added Deepak Ramineedi, Partner, WestBridge Capital.
Founded in 2017 by IIT Madras trio of Bibhu Prasad Das, Victor Senapaty and Brijesh Samantaray, Propelld has tie-ups with over 550 educational institutes and is currently clocking an annual loan disbursal run rate of Rs 600 crore.
With a foothold in the edtech, up-skilling, and job-focused market, Propelld plans to expand its operations in other education segments too.
“We’ve seen Propelld put their heads down and grow sustainably while being very vigilant about lending fundamentals, even during the last couple of Covid-affected years where the broader financial services industry and fintech in general had large disruptions. Their NPA numbers, revenue, and profitability gives us a very strong belief in the fundamentals of the company,” stated Anand Lunia, Partner, India Quotient.
Edited by Anju Narayanan