OpenTap, a Chennai-headquartered start-up that focusses on the alternative lending segment, has entered into a tie-up with ITI EdVest, an education-focussed initiative of the Investment Trust of India (erstwhile Fortune Financial Services India).
The partnership expects to conservatively add loans worth ₹25 crore over the next six months.
Educational expenses
To begin with, the partnership will focus on lending to parents for payment of their children’s education and related fees.
“EdVest’s focus on delivering customised financial solutions to catalyse growth for students and educational institutions will greatly help. We’re excited about what we can achieve together,” said Senthil Natarajan, CEO, OpenTap.
Open Tap and ITI will then foray into other segments to infuse liquidity for blue-collared workers.
The partnership is looking at building a portfolio of ₹150 crore over the next 24 months.
Hersh Shah, Founder, ITI EdVest, said there was a paradigm shift in the demand for school, graduate and vocational education, especially on account of the private sector’s contribution through investment in infrastructure, experiential learning and industry and research partnerships.
As affordability for such education still remains a challenge, the partnership with OpenTap would come up with easy financing options to support.
Target
OpenTap aims to reach ₹100 crore by the year-end, adding 40,000 customers by March 2019. It currently has an active borrower base of over 1,200 individuals and a loan book size of over ₹3 crore.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.