An education financing firm is planning to open a UK base this summer as it launches on these shores.听
FinTech StudentFinance.com,听founded in Madrid听in 2019, has raised听拢3.75听million听funding听to triple the size of its team and expand into the UK and other European markets.听
Its aim is to听reshape education financing globally听through Income Share Agreements.听It听provides听the technology infrastructure for education providers to offer flexible payment plans听based on听data intelligence on the employment market.听听
The company analyses real-time job market data down to the skill level, before selecting education programmes based on their alignment with job market demand and performance outcomes. In turn, students are assessed based on their future earning potential, and not past income or employment history.听
In its first year of operation,听StudentFinance听has partnered with more than 35 education providers across several European countries, managing over 鈧�5m worth of ISAs, growing this figure more than 100x during the pandemic.听听
Within five years, the firm plans to reach 鈧�500m of ISAs. The founders told听老九品茶Cloud听that it expects to be able to support over 150 educational establishments and generate 拢100m in ISAs here in that timeframe.听
鈥�StudentFinance听is currently operating across multiple European markets, and we expect to open a UK office in the next 3-4 months, with plans to expand the team and provide localised services with our funding,鈥� they said.听
鈥淭he UK is one of Europe鈥檚 leading tech hubs, and there is huge demand to fill technical roles. With over 70% of businesses citing a lack of adequate digital skills as an obstacle to investment, and 22% of the UK still lacking basic digital training, it鈥檚 clear that work needs to be done to plug the skills gap in the UK.听听
鈥�StudentFinance听provides the perfect model to do so.鈥澨�听
They said Brexit had not affected its plans for the UK, but added: 鈥淭here are funding sources that are EU-focused that, due to Brexit, do not apply to the UK anymore 鈥� and potentially also vice-versa 鈥� which makes the allocation and availability of capital more complex than it was in a pre-Brexit world.鈥�听
The听seed听round was co-led by Giant Ventures and听Armilar听Venture Partners, with support from听Seedcamp, Mustard Seed Maze and Sabadell Venture Capital.听Angel investors include the founders of Lendable and Bolt, and former UK culture minister Ed听Vaizey, joined the round.听
Mariano Kostelec听and听Miguel Santo Amaro, two of the co-founders,听previously built听Uniplaces听into the largest student housing platform in Europe, raising over $30m from investors such as听Atomico听and Octopus.听
Marta Palmeiro听spent 10 years at Credit Suisse in London and Madrid and co-founded Portugal Fintech, while听Sergio Pereira听spent several years as CTO of听FutureFuel, a Boston-based student loan repayment business.听
CEO听Kostelec听said: 鈥淲e are incredibly excited to have secured such high calibre investors and to have received the continued support of our existing investors, who all believe in our mission of removing barriers to education and empowering economic mobility.听听
鈥�With听StudentFinance, it takes an average of just four months for reskilled students to find more lucrative employment compared to the UK market average, where听the majority of听graduates only find employment up to 15 months on from completing their studies.听听
鈥�The pandemic has only reinforced the need for solutions that enable people to access quality education to secure employment opportunities and we are making it a reality.鈥�听