Ed Partners Africa (Kenya) raises fund from I&P, Acumen and Zephyr

Submitted by admin on Wed, 06/23/2021 - 10:53

Language English

Date: 23/06/2021

Nairobi-based Ed Partners Africa, an affordable private schools financing company, has raised US $1.9m (Ksh205 million) to expand its presence and enable the unserved affordable private schools market access to credit.

The funds were raised from from Acumen, I&P (through its fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 2) and Zephyr with participation from existing investors.

Download the Press Release

Ed Partners: financing and supporting affordable private schools in Kenya

Ed Partners is targeting affordable private schools that provide education to the low-income population and charge school fees of between $150 (Ksh16,000) and $500 (Ksh54,000) per year. Additionally, these schools are looking for loans of between $2,000 (Ksh200,000) and $70,000 (Ksh7 million) payable up to six years.

Ed Partners, which was founded in 2018 by Lydia Koros and David FitzHerbert, has to date offered $ 1.5 million (Ksh162 million) in loans to 142 affordable private schools, which educate 41,000 students.

Ed Partners’ CEO Amos Mwangi said that the company is focusing on Kenya’s affordable private school sector which is typically starved of credit by mainstream lenders.

“Affordable privates schools have found it extremely difficult to access formal credit due to arduous application processes and limited collateral. Mainstream financial institutions lack operational insight to lend to this school segment, further exacerbating an already credit-starved sector”

Amos Mwangi, Ed Partners' CEO

Ed Partners aims to bridge this gap through school-focused lending and through hub-and-spoke based model where the company’s relationship managers work closely with the school leadership through the entire credit process.

Ed Partners loans are designed for specific end-uses such as expansion of classrooms, purchase of school buses, building sanitation facilities etc. and are designed keeping the school cashflows and repayment abilities in mind.

I&P invests in Ed Partners, alongside with Acumen and Zephyr

Ed Partners is one of the latest investments of the fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 2, managed by I&P. Ed Partners also becomes the first company to receive funding from Acumen’s recently launched Education Facility.

The funds raised will help catalyse lending to this sector at this critical time when the education sector is recovering from COVID-19. Ed Partners stands on the cusp of exponential growth and I&P, Acumen and Zephyr believe that this current round will enable the company to extend financing to the affordable private school segment – which is urgently needed as Kenya emerges from the pandemic.

"Affordable private schools are an important piece in delivering education to African children, however they have historically been underbanked. In Kenya, and across Africa, 80%+ of private schools have never accessed a bank loan", explains Abdulkarim Mohamed, Portfolio Manager, Acumen.

“I&P’s investment in Ed Partners marks our growing presence in East Africa, a few months after the launch of our Nairobi-based office. We are proud to support this new investment in the education sector, which makes up one of I&P’s focus areas. Built on a strong social mission, we believe that Ed Partners has the potential to have an important impact on the education sector in Kenya and in the long term in East Africa”

Jeremy Hajdenberg, Deputy Managing Director, Investisseurs & Partenaires

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