GrayQuest Raises $1.2 Million in Pre-Series A Funding

MUMBAI:
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.