Education-focused non-bank lender Auxilo Finserve is raising Rs 279 crore (around $33.4 million) in a fresh round of equity funding led by LeapFrog Investments, the impact-oriented private equity firm.
LeapFrog is investing $30 million in the round while existing investors Trifecta Leaders Fund-I and Xponentia Opportunities Fund-II will pitch in, too.
“LeapFrog’s commitment to social impact aligns perfectly with our vision of empowering individuals through education. This investment, along with continued support from our existing investors, will enhance our ability to support students in achieving their academic dreams,” said Neeraj Saxena, managing director and chief executive officer at Auxilo.
The company plans to use the funds to expand its student lending portfolio and enable better infrastructure for quality education, Auxilo said in a release. It will also use the money to expand customer reach, enhance student funding, incorporate technological infrastructure across business processes, and boost its institutional lending segment.
“With Auxilo, we see a unique opportunity to enable the best and brightest to pursue their dreams of higher education and training, no matter their financial background,” said Stewart Langdon, partner and head of digital at LeapFrog.
Founded in 2017, Auxilo is promoted by Akash Bhanshali of ELME Advisors LLP and co-invested by Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd. Auxilo provides loans to students for pursuing education in India or overseas and also to educational institutions for their infrastructure and working capital requirements.
It has been backed by investors such as ICICI Bank Ltd, Tata Capital Growth Fund II, Trifecta Leaders Fund - I, and Xponentia. To date, the company has provided education loans to over 12,000 students, across more than 1,100 universities and education institutes in over 30 countries. It has also provided finance to over 170 educational institutes for their infrastructure expansion and working capital requirements. Its 350 employees operate out of seven branch offices.
Auxilo says its model of underwriting uses student academics, test scores, country of study and degree choice to predict future employability. The company claims that these parameters allow it to offer merit-based finance to an increasingly broad range of students seeking to acquire master’s degrees and other post-graduate qualifications.
The company’s assets under management have grown at 75% compound annual growth rate during FY21-24 and stood at Rs 2,878 crore as of March 31, 2024.
