SUMMARY
The funding round was led by MassMutual Ventures and also saw participation from DSP Mutual Fund, Kunal Shah and Anchorage Capital Partners
EduFund said it will use the fresh funding to accelerate its growth, create new solutions, and invest in technology
The startup offers a full-stack solution to help Indian parents plan, save, and invest in their children's education
Education-focused fintech startup EduFund has raised a funding of $3.5 Mn in a round led by MassMutual Ventures. The funding round also saw participation from DSP Mutual Fund, Kunal Shah and Anchorage Capital Partners.
EduFund said it plans to use the new funding to accelerate growth, create new solutions and invest in technology, ET reported. Before the current round, the startup had raised $1.3 Mn across its pre-seed and seed rounds.
Founded in 2020, EduFund offers a full-stack solution to help Indian parents plan, save, and invest in their children’s education. According to EduFund, education inflation hovers around 8-10% in India and 4% in countries like the UK, the US and others, where there is a high enrollment of Indian students.
As such, the startup claims that it allows parents to plan ahead and save across different asset classes to meet the rising costs over time. It lets parents invest in mutual funds, US ETF and digital gold. EduFund has partnered with Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Navi, and other mutual funds and asset management companies to provide these services.
Further, EduFund also provides education loans and scholarships. It claims that it has 70,000 parents on its platform.
Cofounders Eela Dubey and Arindam Sengupta were cited by ET as saying, “Our goal at EduFund has always been to help parents start saving early and to provide solutions that will financially enable the aspirations they have for their children.”
“The founders’ asset management expertise and deep understanding of the market, coupled with the significance of education in Indian culture, makes the company a compelling investment opportunity. We are excited to partner with EduFund in their mission to make higher education accessible to all,” Anvesh Ramineni, managing partner at MMV, was cited as saying.
The fundraise comes at a time when the edtech sector is reeling because of funding drought and has seen thousands of layoffs. According to Inc42’s ‘Indian Startup Layoff Tracker’, edtech startups have fired more than 9,000 employees since the start of 2022.
During the quarter ended March 31, 2023, edtech startups raised $100 Mn across 17 deals, a decline of 93% and 41% year-on-year (YoY), respectively.
However, the fintech sector continues to receive a lot of interest from investors. In the first quarter of 2023, fintech startups raised nearly $1.3 Bn in funding across 25 deals.
