Balrampur Chini invests Rs. 37.5 cr in Auxilo Finserve.

India's leading sugar firm Balrampur Chini Mills has invested about Rs. 37.5 crore in Mumbai-based startup Auxilo Finserve, an RBI-registered NBFC lender to the education sector, in lieu of a 50 per cent stake.

Balrampur Chini is investing through a preferential allotment of shares.

The remaining 50 per cent will be held by Enam Holdings’ Akash Bhanshali.

Both the investors have committed to make further investments of Rs. 350 crore in the next three to four years through multiple tranches, with each one of investing about Rs. 175 crore.

“We are trying to create innovative methods to boost India’s education sector’s growth by financing higher education of students and educational infrastructure in schools,” Neeraj Saxena, MD and CEO of Auxilo Finserve, said.

“We’re moving ahead as per our roadmap in valuing dreams of students opting for higher studies and fulfil the financing needs of small-to-big size schools in India.

Auxilo Finserve, which introduced special loans for women in March with zero processing fees, aims to use the proceeds to extend loans to students and educational institutes.

The NBFC provides education loans to students for higher studies (global and domestic) and educational institutes for infrastructure modernisation.

The company is planning to build a loan portfolio of Rs. 350 crore by FY19.

Auxilo Finserve, which started operations in October 2017, already has presence in major educational hubs such as Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Pune through specialised centres.

The startup is also focussing on providing loans to schools and colleges for their growth needs.

The firm’s average loan size for students would be Rs. 15-20 lakh and for educational institutions, Rs. 75 lakh to Rs. 1 crore.

HBL