Fintech startup Study Loans secures $50 million debt facility

Fintech startup Study Loans, which looks to help students finance their tertiary education, has secured a $50 million finance facility from an ‘ASX200 finance company’ and launched a $5 million capital raise.

Founded by Brett Shanley, Mark McCoach, and Rhett Simonds with an initial focus on vocational education, the startup works with educational institutions to have tuition paid to the organisation as a student progresses through their studies, like the government study loan programs.

“The debt facility is a real game changer for us. It gives us capacity to lend more and to more popular courses, making more dreams of Australian students become a reality,” Shanley said.

The facility comes as the startup reports it has partnered with 60 educational institutions, and aims to grow this to 250 by the end of the year. Study Loans is also targeting 2,500 loans on its platform by December, with an average loan size of $10,000.

Shanley previously explained to Startup Daily that the company is selective in the educational institutions it partners with, which in turn assists with approving loans.

He explained that institutions must have “a long history in delivering education in a specialist manner”, with the startup looking at their history of compliance, the average completion rates of courses, and the job outcome rates from courses.

“Ultimately, we only want to work with institutions who are providing a real outcome for their students. In our mind, an outcome must be gaining a job, gaining a promotion, gaining a pay raise or gaining the ability to move into a new industry,” Shanley said.

Rather than delivering the loan in a lump sum, the fintech pays tuition directly to the educational institutions in tranches, or as a student progresses through their studies, like the government study loan programs.

The startup has added a handful of experts to its ranks as it looks to grow; joining its advisory board over the last few months were Ryan Meyer, senior regional director for APAC at General Assembly, former GE Capital executive Jim Cock, Marcus Oakley of Connected Analytics, and Allyn Radford, inaugural CEO of DeakinDigital.

It will also be helped along by the $5 million in funding it is looking to raise; the startup has already secured funding from existing backer, the Simonds family office.

“We are committed to revolutionising the way Australian students can access education, because the federal government’s ability to support and grow education by itself is receding,” Shanley said.

“We want to ensure all Australian students have a pathway for learning and the financial assistance they need to make this a reality.”

Image: Brett Shanley and Mark McCoach. Source: Supplied.