GyanDhan Partners with Great Learning & various IAS Institutes to provide interest-free loans
Mumbai: GyanDhan, India’s first education financing platform aims to disburse 650cr worth of education loans in FY22. Out of this Rs 650 cr, 50cr will be for domestic short-term courses offered by various ed-tech players & coaching institutes. They have partnered with companies like Great learning & various IAS Institutions to offer interest-free education loans to prospective students wanting to pursue short-term courses. Since its inception, GyanDhan has become the go-to- platform for students to secure funds for their education abroad. Until now Gyandan has sanctioned loans with Rs 200 cr+ in this FY22, including both domestic and abroad education loans.
While GyanDhan continues to make strides in the study abroad market, the company realized that financing options were limited for students interested in pursuing short-term/vocational courses. Traditional lenders were reluctant to offer loans to such customers because of their perception of risk. The demand for financing for such programs grew significantly in the pandemic, aided by the boom in the ed-tech sector. GyanDhan partnered with schools, colleges, ed-tech platforms like Great Learning, and IAS coaching institutions to offer interest-free loans to prospective students.
Recently ventured into the domestic market, GyanDhan noticed that there is a large section of students in India who are facing a hard time financing exam preparation classes like IAS coaching, IIT Jeecoaching, and short-term upskillingcourses. The fee of such classes ranges between INR 2 lakhs – INR 3 lakhs. Traditional lenders do not have loan products catering to low-ticket loans like coaching fees. Subsequently, parents and students apply for a personal loan with a high interest rate. GyanDhan saw this emerging opportunity and approached IAS coachings across the country with its customizable loan product. IAS institutes like Sriram’s IAS (Delhi), Raj Academy (Chandigarh), Pragnya IAS (Hyderabad), BE N BY IAS (Delhi), and Eden IAS (Delhi) have already started offering GyanDhan’s IAS coaching loan to the students approaching them for admissions and asking for the loan.
“We aim to disburse 650 Cr loans in this FY. Till now, we have disbursed more than 1000 Cr in total. We have extended short-term loans to nearly 3000 students in the last 6 months, partnering with more than 350 institutions in India. It is revolutionary in terms of its varied features like – instant loan approval, no-cost EMIs, disbursal in 24 hours, and the option to customize the loan product for the institute. The process is streamlined with completely online application submission and minimum document requirements. With the help of customized loan products and flexible repayment options, students can opt to upskill from institutes like Great Learning and bid goodbye to the hassles of financing the courses with GyanDhan.”, said Mr. AnkitMehra, Founder & CEO, GyanDhan
GyanDhan’s initiative to provide financial assistance and partnerships with Great Learning & IAS coaching is a win-win situation for both the students and the institutes. It works closely with the partner institution to create affordable financing solutions for students including no-interest loans. With access to the partner’s internal data and alternative data including an understanding of the course quality and final placements, GyanDhan is able to even approve customers with no credit history. The company believes that the data it is collecting will help it further refine its model, increasing access to funding options for more students in the future while also bringing down the cost for the end consumer.