25 October 2016, India :
Washington-based fintech startup MPOWER – which works with investors and universities to lend to high-potential students left out by traditional banks – has raised $6 million funding led by Zephyr Peacock.
MPOWER aims to remove financial barriers to higher education in the United States and now in India. To accomplish this mission, it works with investors and universities to lend to high-potential students who are left out by traditional banks.
“International students have to rely on scholarships and financing from home countries, and cannot avail of low cost loans in the US,” said Abhijeet Kudva, director at Zephyr Peacock India. “Considering that most of the Chinese students fund their education through family savings, India becomes the most important market for MPOWER. Hence, the company plans to build local presence to cater to the huge market Indian student’s offer.”
Manu Smadja, Co-Founder of MPOWER said, “We look forward to Zephyr’s support in expanding our local presence across new geographies. In particular, we are eager to work with Zephyr Peacock in strengthening our India presence, since the country is the largest source of our applicants.”
In addition to providing students with access to the financial resources necessary to attend and complete college, the company builds students’ credit histories, provides them with personal finance education, and offers gateway financial products to prepare them for life after college. Source- ET