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UK based international student lender Prodigy finance has raised $240m in new funding, with $40m coming from a Series C round led by Index Ventures in addition to a $200m debt financing from an unnamed 'global investment bank'. The company provides loans to international students from emerging markets, enabling them to study at business schools in the US, the UK and Europe.
With the number of international students forecast to reach 8 million by 2025 Prodigy Finance is clearly sitting on a growing market. The company founded what it describes as the world’s first globally enforceable credit model, and works only with leading universities. The annual repayment rate of over 99% is ensured by crowdfunding loans from alumni from universities such as such as INSEAD, London Business School, Cambridge Judge Business School, Stanford University and Harvard University. That means students are ‘reputationally invested’ in their own education, and it allows alumni to support their alma mater. Qualified investors, and the alumni, also earn a financial return. It’s Philanthropy 2.0, if you will.
