The Venture Codex

Led · Series A · Jun 2021

Vital is a next-generation insurtech platform that offers tailor-made, comprehensive, subscription-based health plans personalized to each member’s needs. The company combines insurance coverage with wellness benefits and assigns a dedicated care manager to each member to manage needs in real time. Plans go beyond hospitalization to include essential wellness expenses and use small deductibles to offer premiums up to 70% lower. Vital’s product is integrated with partners such as Mfine, Healthians, Thyrocare, 1Mg, BeatO, Fitterfly, Fitternity, Cult.fit, and Betterlyf, and it co-developed insurance cover with Care Health Insurance. The app claims under 60 seconds to buy a plan and under two minutes to intimate a claim or book an appointment. Financially, Vital raised $3 million in a pre-Series A round to build the product and scale its member base.

Led · Equity · Feb 2018

Eduvanz is an online marketplace for education loans that allows students to study now and pay later with pocket-friendly monthly instalments, often at zero percent rates. It provides flexible loan products focused on K-12 programmes, online skill-development courses and professional courses. The company is Sequoia-backed and, according to Tracxn, ranks first among 34 active competitors. Financially, Eduvanz raised $12.6 million (about Rs 104.5 crore) in an extended Series B via allotment of 68,373 Series B1 CCPS at an issue price of Rs 15,283.71 per share. In April the firm also raised Rs 50 crore in a debt round with participation from MAS, Vivriti, Oxyzo, and Unifi AIF. Prior to this equity raise the fintech had a total of $24.7 million in funding, per Tracxn. Eduvanz was founded in 2016 by Varun Chopra, Raheel Shah and Atul Sashittal and is Mumbai-based. Eduvanz holds an NBFC licence and offers low-cost EMI credit for education and learning-related needs. The company emphasizes off-balance-sheet partnerships as a core strategy to keep its balance sheet light. As of December 2021, Eduvanz had total assets under management (AUM) of Rs 288.4 crore. The firm reported that credit disbursal doubled in FY22. To execute its strategy, Eduvanz intends to have 70% of AUM off-balance-sheet going forward. The company has been expanding its lender base to support growth while limiting on‑balance‑sheet exposure. Eduvanz is a Mumbai-based digital finance NBFC offering study-now-pay-later education loans with pocket-friendly monthly installments at zero percent rates. The company says it has enabled more than 25,000 learners and disbursed loans worth Rs 300 crore. Co-founded in 2016 by Varun Chopra and Raheel Shah, Eduvanz is backed by Sequoia Capital and Unitus Ventures. From April to December 2020 the startup reported a fourfold increase in unique customers and a threefold rise in monthly loan disbursals. Management says the new debt will strengthen its position as it moves to become a leader in education financing and help reach more learners. The funding is intended to expand the company’s lending capacity and support growth. Eduvanz provides loans to students for upskilling courses and school fees. It enhances underwriting by using parameters such as social media scores and education scores, and by taking guardians or parents as guarantors. The company plans to use the new capital to build AI-based risk management technologies and to simplify collections to support borrowers through their lending journey. Eduvanz also plans to develop new credit products and expand its reach into tier 2 and tier 3 geographies in India. The company raised USD 5 million as part of a Series A round led by Sequoia India, with participation from existing investor Unitus Ventures. Eduvanz offers unsecured education and skill-development loans instantly through an online platform, working with training partners, corporates and certification providers across more than 16 industry sectors. The company uses proprietary AI-based algorithms and predictive analytics to collate financial and socio-economic data from conventional and non-conventional sources for loan appraisal. Founded in 2016 by Varun Chopra, Raheel Shah and Atul Sashittal, Eduvanz is Mumbai-based. It says the RBI licence to start an NBFC will help it become a leading lender for vocational courses, on-the-job training and certification programs. The startup raised $500,000 to strengthen its AI-based lending technology and support expansion.

Led · Equity · Mar 2016

Imarticus Learning provides certified, industry‑endorsed courses in Financial Services, Business Analysis, Business Analytics and Wealth Management via online and classroom modes. The company was founded in 2012 by Barshikar and Sonya Hooja and is headquartered in Mumbai with dedicated centers across India including Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Coimbatore and Delhi. It has trained over 30,000 students globally across the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia and aimed to skill 55,000 students by 2020. The startup targets a 100% growth run rate for the next two years. Proceeds from the latest fundraise will be used for international expansion to markets such as Dubai, Africa and Manila and to establish institutes in Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Indore. Delivery remains a mix of online and classroom programs focused on career‑oriented skilling in finance and analytics. Imarticus Learning Pvt Ltd is a Mumbai-based education management company. The article identifies the firm only by that sector and does not detail specific courses or offerings. It announced that it has raised $1 million in funding. The raise was led by Blinc Advisors, a venture capital fund, with other investors also participating. The company made the announcement on Thursday. The article does not disclose operating metrics, revenue, users, or future plans.