Mumbai, India, August 17, 2020 – GrayQuest, an education-focused fintech
company, has raised $1.2 million in Pre-Series A funding led by Foundation
Holdings, a strategic global investment firm to
increase access to affordable education in India.
GrayQuest enables parents to pay
their annual education fees in up to 12 monthly instalments – without incurring
any extra cost – instead of paying it to their educational institution in
two-three bulk instalments. Additionally, parents and students paying through
GrayQuest get access to India’s first student focused privilege program and
complimentary insurance protection for their lifetime education fees, hence
providing them the most convenient, secure and rewarding fee payment
experience.
Mahansaria Family Office,
Jeejeebhoy Family Office, Ambit Capital founder Ashok Wadhwa’s Family Office, fintech
lending company SMECorner founder Samir Bhatia and angel investor Rohit Dhoot amongst
others also participated in the round.
Speaking about the
partnership, GrayQuest Founder and CEO Rishab Mehta said, “Our first external
fundraise is an important step to launch GrayQuest into its next phase of
growth. The average Indian household spends nearly 24% of its total annual
income on children’s education placing financing of education fees top-of-mind
for parents. GrayQuest aims to become the default method of paying education
fees for the 100 million plus learners studying in private sector education
institutions. At present, GrayQuest is enabling over 250,000 children to access
education in an affordable manner while also a becoming strong source of
liquidity and fee collection support for it’s partner institutions. Covid-19
has further cemented the need for affordable, accessible and flexible online
payment solutions and GrayQuest has seen increased demand from educational
institutions across the spectrum. Our Monthly Payment Plan is a ground-breaking
product that combines a credit, insurance and a rewards offering for parents
paying annual fees to our partner educational institutions. Together with Foundation
Holdings global education sector know-how, we will unlock our next phase of
development through expanding our reach and depth of offering.”
Aakash Sachdev,
Managing Director of Foundation Holdings, added “We are excited to partner with
GrayQuest and help them transform into a large education focused fintech
organization. GrayQuest’s offering is of increasing relevance today and our
partnership is instrumental to implementing a robust financing solution to improve
affordability and access for parents’ of the 250 million learners across India.
We are impressed with GrayQuest’s traction and its significant impact, even at
an early stage, with some of India’s leading educational institutions. With
more than USD 100 billion being spent on education by Indian households, we believe
there is a massive opportunity for GrayQuest to continue to build tailored
financial products that not only solves pain points, but provides a seamless and delightful offering to all
stakeholders in India’s education ecosystem. Our investment in GrayQuest also
reflects our commitment to building an omni-channel education eco-system to
augment the overall learner experience. Last month we invested in Toppr, which
is India’s leading after-school AI based learning app for K12 students.”
Abhishek Sharma, Chief Executive
Officer at Foundation Holdings said, “India has experienced a tremendous social
and economic growth over the past decade. An emerging sector of private schools
delivering quality education at affordable prices is thriving to meet the
growing demand of over 250 million learners. Our investment in GrayQuest
reflects our commitment to building a unique differentiated education
eco-system with a focus on quality, affordability and accessibility. Foundation
Holdings’ focus is on driving change that matters by moving towards a positive
future by finding innovative companies, partnerships and solutions and hence
GrayQuest is an ideal partnership opportunity for us. Foundation Holdings is at
the heart of creating an education eco-system with over USD 150 million
committed via traditional bricks and mortar schools (Ryan EduNation), Education
Technology (Toppr) and now ancillary education services via innovative
learner-centric credit solutions (GrayQuest) all of which combined are vital to
making a social benefit impact in the education sector while ensuring the
sustainability of education.”
According to
ResearchAndMarkets.com, India holds an important place in the global education
industry with around 1.8 million K-12 schools and a learner base of 250
million. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 which was recently approved
by the Union Cabinet has also proposed a lot of progressive and uplifting
changes in the education system.
