[Funding alert] ISFC raises $30M from Gray Matters Capital; appoints new MD and CEO

Education sector lender Indian School Finance Company (ISFC) raised $30 million in a mix of equity and debt from existing investor Gray Matters Capital, with participation from other partner NBFCs including InCred, U GRO Capital, and Profectus Capital.

The new investment round and joint lending partnership will enable ISFC to expand its current partner network from 6,500 schools to 15,000. 

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Additionally, ISFC will introduce new offerings focusing on student financing for K-12, coaching, and skill development by disbursing more than $100 million over the next two years.

Erika Norwood, President and CEO, Gray Matters Capital said,

"We believe this sector is undervalued and will go through a significant evolution and expansion in the next few years. GMC is committed to supporting ISFC in its mission to become the largest education financing player in India."

ISFC also appointed Sandeep Wirkhare as its new MD and CEO. Sandeep brings more than two decades of financial services experience across SME lending, risk, and technology, and has in-depth experience in building and managing large NBFCs.

Commenting on the new appointment, Sandeep said, "Our focus will be to capitalise on our strength by partnering with institutions to help them digitise their operations in the coming year, and to drive the engine of growth by consolidating our conventional lending offerings and aggressively pursue student financing for K-12 schools, coaching, and skill development courses. The future is driven by education and IFSC plans to be the leading enabler by becoming the preferred choice of lender to all players in this space.” 

A non-banking financial company, ISFC lends to schools and colleges, vocational training institutes, coaching institutes, and small and medium enterprises in the education space. Its objective is to assist schools and other educational institutions in capacity building through infrastructure improvements, thereby enabling students to access quality education.