Dubai based fintech company zenda announced today that they were successful in securing a $9.4 million oversubscribed seed round. The round saw participation from prominent global VCs STV, COTU, Global Founders Capital, and VentureSouq. The funds will be used for product development and market expansion in India.
The company was founded in June 2021 by McKinsey & Company alumni Raman Thiagarajan and Haseeb Ahmed, their second entrepreneurial venture together. zenda allows families to track dues and make payments through a multitude of pay-now and pay-later options, and unlock rewards for paying on time. zenda integrates with schools through its proprietary data model and APIs and eliminates last mile reconciliation challenges and delays. They earn a small commission every time a parent makes a transaction via their app. They also make money through processing fees when they provide credit for parents who want to make monthly payments for the cost of their children’s education.
zenda’s aims to make it easier for families to manage money and enables their financial wellness – banking and financial experiences built from the ground up, designed specifically for families.
“It is gratifying to see the response from parents and seeing how they have embraced our service. zenda schools are witnessing a systematic increase in their collections. We have a truly outstanding team and I feel privileged to have such a passionate group with us on this journey,” Raman Thiagarajan, CEO and founder, zenda said.
Commenting on the funding, Ihsan Jawad, General Partner, STV, said, “Raman, Haseeb and the team have identified a compelling gap in the market and in supporting families on a topic that is very important to them. Seeing their strong traction over the past several months, we couldn’t be more excited about zenda. India and the GCC are a USD 100+ billion market for private education fees. They have built an outstanding team and we look forward to working with them in helping zenda achieve its mission.”
