Prodigy Finance
British fintech
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prodigy Finance is a fintech company that develops a platform enabling financing for international postgraduate students who attend a participating postgraduate institution.
| |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Finance |
| Founded | August 2007 |
| Founder | Cameron Stevens[citation needed] |
| Headquarters | London , |
| Key people | Cameron Stevens (CEO) |
| Services | Postgraduate student loans |
| Website | prodigyfinance |
The company's loans are funded by a community of alumni, institutional investors, and private investors. The company finances postgraduate programs in the fields of business, engineering, public policy, law, and health sciences.[1]
Since 2007, Prodigy Finance has disbursed over US$1.4 billion through its platform, to fund over 20,000 students across 150 different nationalities.[2] The company is headquartered in London,[3] and maintains offices in Cape Town and New York.
History
The company was conceptualized in 2006, by Three INSEAD MBA students.[citation needed]
That same year, the company's concept was recognized at INSEAD's International Venture Capital Investment Competition, resulting in the initial seed funding for the company.[4]
Prodigy Finance was officially founded in 2007.[5]
Prodigy Finance started with a peer-to-peer funding programme for INSEAD students.[6] Alumni invested in bonds which enabled students to study their MBA at that institution.[7] Leveraging this peer-to-peer lending, Prodigy Finance began offering loans to MBA candidates enrolled at other business schools.
In 2014, Prodigy Finance announced the launch of a US$25 million Education Note in partnership with the Credit Suisse Impact Investing and Microfinance team.[8] The Education Note has a focus on students from emerging markets, enabling them to study at top postgraduate programmes.
In 2015, Prodigy Finance announced a $12.5 million equity investment from Balderton Capital and various angel investors, and $110 million in loan capital from Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and other private investors.[9]
In 2017, Prodigy Finance announced a $240 million fundraise. This included a $40 million Series C equity round led by international venture capital firm Index Ventures, with participation from Balderton Capital and AlphaCode; and a $200 million debt facility led by a global investment bank.[10]