Education loans marketplace GyanDhan gets funding from Stanford Angels, Harvard Angels

GyanDhan, an education financing marketplace, has raised an undisclosed amount in its seed funding round from Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs with participation from Harvard Angels, and other individual investors including Pravin Gandhi, Partner- Seedfund Advisors in his personal capacity. GyanDhan had earlier received angel funding from Satyen Kothari, Founder of Cube and Citrus Pay, to fund operations from the concept phase to their first loan disbursal. The startup provides students an option to apply for loans up to Rs 30 lakhs without any collateral for higher education abroad. GyanDhan was founded by Ankit Mehra and Jainesh Sinha, IIt alumni, both of whom spent 5+ years working for Capital One, a leading American Bank.

Indian students spend US $14bn abroad annually with bank financing contributing less than five per cent to it. Banks usually are reluctant to participate in education loans market due to high NPA levels. As a result, higher education remains a privilege of the rich and contributes to an ever increasing disparity rather than being the great leveller. GyanDhyan seeks to expand and equalize access to higher education through their proprietary models that helps bank assess employability of students and help them make better decisions says Jainesh.

GyanDhan provides students an option to apply for loans up to Rs 30 lakh without any collateral for higher education abroad. It has also tied up with other financial institutions to provide such loans.