Gajju Technologies Pvt Ltd, which runs education-focused fintech startup Financepeer, on Wednesday said it has raised $31 million (around Rs 235.6 crore) in a fresh funding co-led by QED Investors and Aavishkaar Capital.
The round also saw participation from a host of marquee investors including Ardent Ventures, DMI Sparkle Fund, DMI, 9Unicorns, LC Nueva AIF and Maxar VC.
The platform plans to deploy the fresh money to boost its technology provisions and offerings, ramp up tie-ups with educational institutions and expand rural footprint.
“Financepeer has processed more than $100 million of fees on its platform and helped hundreds of thousands of students get quality education. In line with the company's vision for the next phase of growth, it is very important to join hands with sector-specific and the right set of leaders, partners and investors,” said Rohit Gajbhiye, CEO, Financepeer.
Founded in 2016 by Gajbhiye, an alumnus of IIT- Bombay, Financepeer claims that over 22,00,000 parents use its credit platform to pay their children’s fees across 6,000 institutes.
The firm enables parents to repay tuition fees to Financepeer in monthly instalments and provides ancillary services.
The platform was incubated at Google 2020 and had raised $3 million led by MS Fincap.
Financepeer competes with players Avanse Financial, Grayquest, and Eduvanz.
“Through our first investment from the new fund, we are excited to partner with Financepeer as they are servicing a large unmet need in the aspiring Indian edtech segment, creating a significant impact in Tier-2 and beyond cities. Also, we have realized that support via finance significantly improves access to education, especially for girl students wanting higher education. This has been validated by the large base of girl students in Financepeer’s network,” said Sushma Kaushik, Partner, Aavishkaar Capital.
Ashika Group was one of the advisors for Financepeer in this funding round.