[Funding alert] Fintech startup Finwego raises $1.7M from SAIF Partners, others

Education-focused fintech company Finwego on Wednesday announced that it has raised $1.7 million in its seed round from SAIF Partners. A group of HNIs and angels also participated in this round.

Finwego will be using the funds to expand its geographies, focus on developing products, and to expand its team. According to a press release, Finwego is looking to double its team size of 30 members within the next three months. The startup is also planning to apply for an NBFC licence.

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Mridul Arora, Managing Director at SAIF Partners, said:

"Finwego are doing some very interesting work in the education finance space. We are very optimistic about the company's growth and product innovation, and we believe that Finwego can positively contribute to the private school education ecosystem in India while building a profitable business. Excited to partner with them in the next phase of growth."

Finwego was founded by Stanford University alumnus Shiv Vadivelalagan, and Harvard University alumnus Pavee Ramanisankar.

Winner of the Harvard Innovation Challenge, the startup is incubated at the Harvard Innovation Labs. Finwego acts as a one-stop-solution for financial needs of the ones in the school ecosystem. It caters to the schools' management, parents, teachers, and vendors.

Co-founder Shiv said,

"Our aim here at Finwego is to deliver customised lending products for the rapidly growing private school education space in India. With the infusion of new funds, we are looking to build a high-calibre team and digital infrastructure to support our robust growth plans. We plan to reach out to 10,000 plus schools over the next five years and have a pan-India presence.”

Finwego has on-boarded more than 200 schools in the last six months and is planning to expand to more than 1,000 schools by the end of this financial year.

"Currently, there are 350,000 private schools in India that educate about 40 percent of the school-going students in India, which are roughly 100 million students. We expect this number to grow as more parents prefer private school education. We are extremely delighted to have SAIF Partners on board, as they are excellent growth partners,” Shiv added.

Venture Capital firm SAIF Partners provides seed, early, and growth stage capital for emerging companies in India and China. With offices in Gurugram and Bengaluru, they began partnering with entrepreneurs in India in 2002.

SAIF Partners has backed companies in the consumer, education, fintech, healthcare, logistics, and IT services. Some of them are MakeMyTrip, JustDial, PayTM, BookMyShow, Rivigo, Swiggy, and ShareChat.

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