SOUTHEAST Asia’s education financial technology company ErudiFi has raised a $5-million Series A round co-led by Monk’s Hill Ventures and Qualgro to further scale up its operations and services throughout the region, including the Philippines.
As a growing organization, the firm said it plans to use the fund to make key hires across product and engineering, marketing and operations, business development, and data functions.
It also intends to boost its education financing services, invest in product innovation to deepen its engagement and relationship with schools and students, and broaden its footprint in existing markets in Indonesia and the Philippines with academic institution partners.
Established in 2017, ErudiFi’s tech-enabled platform has helped secure funding for thousands of financially underserved students and has grown three times in 2020.
Through its Study Now, Pay Later model, it facilitates education financing for students in the region, beginning with the Philippines and Indonesia. “Our partnership with Monk’s Hill Ventures and Qualgro opens a greater opportunity for us to further our mission in making education more affordable in Southeast Asia,” said Riche Lim, co-founder, chief financial officer, and chief strategy officer of ErudiFi. According to him, almost two-thirds of Filipino and Indonesian youths do not have access to higher education due to the lack of financing.
He said student retention is also a challenge in the region, with many schools experiencing dropout rates of 10 percent to 15 percent annually, mainly due to financial difficulties faced by students and their families.
“It is our dream to be able to bridge this gap. With this partnership, we are grateful to be able to pursue our goal of helping students build a better tomorrow,” he said.
Persistent focus on product innovation is key for ErudiFi, according to the company. Its tech-enabled customer and partner onboarding process provides a trusted and accessible solution for students and schools.
The firm has also launched a value-added service providing partner schools with a way to track disbursements and provide real-time analytics, supporting school partners in both recruitment and retention efforts.
“ErudiFi aims to shape trusted relationships with universities and partner institutions as they expand in the region and the Qualgro team is excited to work closely with them to scale their reach,” said Heang Chhor, founder and managing partner of Qualgro. Its local subsidiary, Bukas.ph, is an education financing platform that offers affordable student loans. It works closely with top colleges and universities to provide an easy, secure, and integrated tuition installment plan for students.
“With our network of partner schools, we hope to reach as many students as possible across the country,” said Jon Robert Emlano, Bukas country manager for the Philippines. “At Bukas, we believe that making education more affordable will provide a better tomorrow for Filipino families.”
To date, Bukas has onboarded partner institutions nationwide like Mapua University, Far Eastern University, Adamson University, Our Lady of Fatima University, PHINMA Education Network, University of Nueva Caceres, Centro Escolar University (CEU), and Eskwelabs, among others.
“We are grateful for the financing option that Bukas.ph provides as it has been of great help to our students and their families. Through this partnership with Bukas.ph, we can enable more students to continue with their studies, especially during these trying times. We hope to see more students avail of this and continue pursuing higher education in the coming years,” said Jericho P. Orlina, assistant vice president for business affairs at CEU.
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