Prodigy Finance is a fintech platform that enables

financing Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm uses ...

for international postgraduate students who attend a participating business school or postgraduate institution. Prodigy Finance's loans are collectively funded by a community of alumni, institutional investors and qualified private investors who receive a financial and social return; while the borrower gains access to higher education that they might not otherwise be able to finance. Since 2007, Prodigy Finance has disbursed over US$1.4 billion through the platform to fund over 20,000 students from 150 nationalities. Prodigy Finance is registered in London with offices in London, Cape Town and New York.

Overview

Three INSEAD MBA graduates conceptualised Prodigy Finance during their studies in 2006, as their experience highlighted an opportunity to bridge the financing gap often experienced by high-potential international postgraduate students looking to attend a top school. Prodigy Finance was founded in 2007 with the intention of addressing this challenge, as Prodigy Finance Founder Cameron Stevens experienced himself. The Prodigy Finance concept was recognised at the 2006 International Venture Capital Investment Competition at INSEAD, resulting in the initial seed money for the company.

History

Prodigy Finance started with a peer-to-peer funding programme for INSEAD students. Alumni invested in bonds which enabled students to study their MBA at that institution. Leveraging this peer-to-peer lending, Prodigy Finance began offering loans to MBA candidates enrolled at other leading business schools. In 2014, Prodigy Finance announced the launch of a US$25 million Education Note in partnership with the

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...

Impact Investing and Microfinance team. 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 Balderton Capital is a venture capital firm based in London, UK, that invests in early-stage, technology and internet startup companies in Europe. It is considered to be among the four-biggest venture capital firms in the English capital. Foun ...

and various angel investors, and $110 million in loan capital from Credit Suisse,

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

and other private investors. 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 Index Ventures is a European venture capital firm with dual headquarters in San Francisco and London, investing in technology-enabled companies with a focus on e-commerce, fintech, mobility, gaming, infrastructure/ AI, and security. Since its f ...

, with participation from Balderton Capital and AlphaCode; and a $200 million debt facility led by a global investment bank.

Loans for international students

Prodigy Finance supports postgraduate programmes in the fields of business, engineering, public policy, law and health sciences. This includes the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

Top 100 ranked business schools, such as

INSEAD INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe ( Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...

Wharton Wharton may refer to: Academic institutions * Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania * Wharton County Junior College * Paul R. Wharton High School * Wharton Center for Performing Arts, at Michigan State University Places * Wharton, Ch ...

, Chicago Booth,

IESE IESE Business School is the graduate business school of the University of Navarra. Founded in 1958 in Barcelona where its main campus is located,López, T. & Pampliega, J“La fundación del IESE (1956–1958)” Universidad de Navarra, Biblioteca ...

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one ...

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degrees in management and finance, MBA and PhD). Its motto is " ...

Imperial College Business School Imperial College Business School is the graduate business school of Imperial College London in the UK. In 2004, the business school was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. History In 1851, the Great Exhibition was the first World's Fair, organized by ...

, Emlyon Business School,

NUS NUS or Nus may refer to: * National University of Singapore * Nus, a town in the Aosta Valley of Italy * Neglected and Underutilized Species, or Neglected and Underutilized Crops * National Union of Students (Australia) * National Union of Students ...

, University of Oxford's Saïd Business School,

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, and

Yale School of Management The Yale School of Management (also known as Yale SOM) is the graduate business school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. The school awards the Master of Business Administration (MBA), MBA for Executives ...

. To be eligible for a loan, students must be studying outside of their home country, or country of residence. One exception is in the United Kingdom, as Prodigy Finance can lend to domestic students. Applicants must already be accepted at a participating institution to qualify.

References

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External links

Prodigy Finance Website

Prodigy Finance Blog
Business schools Crowdsourcing Loans 2007 establishments in England

Overview

History

Loans for international students

See also

References

External links