A technology-enable company providing access to affordable education financing in Southeast Asia is planning to scale up operations in the Philippines to reach as many students as possible and help them finish their degrees.

ErudiFi, a tech-enabled company providing access to affordable education financing in Southeast Asia and responsible for the operations of Bukas PH, announced its plan after closing a $5 million Series A round co-led by Monk's Hill Ventures and Qualgro.

In a statement, the company said part of the funding will be used to make key hires across product and engineering, marketing and operations, business development, and data functions. The company also plans to scale ErudiFi’s education financing services, deepen its footprint in existing markets in the Philippines and Indonesia with educational institution partners, and invest in product innovation to deepen ErudiFi’s engagement and relationship with students and schools.

"With our network of partner schools, we hope to reach as many students as possible across the country. At Bukas, we believe that making education more affordable will provide a better tomorrow for Filipino families," Jon Robert Emlano, Bukas Country Manager for Philippines said.

To date, Bukas has on boarded partner institutions nationwide like Mapua University, Far Eastern University, Adamson University, Our Lady of Fatima University, PHINMA Education Network, University of Nueva Caceres, Centro Escolar University, and Eskwelabs, among others.

“We are grateful for the financing option that Bukas.ph provides as it has been of great help to our students and their families. Through this partnership with Bukas.ph, we can enable more students to continue with their studies, especially during these trying times. We hope to see more students avail of this and continue pursuing higher education in the coming years,” said Jericho P. Orlina, AVP for Business Affairs of Centro Escolar University.

Today, ErudiFi’s tech-enabled platform has helped secure funding for thousands of financially underserved students and has grown 3x in 2020. With its Study Now, Pay Later model, ErudiFi facilitates education financing for students in Southeast Asia, beginning with the Philippines and Indonesia.

Working with accredited schools and universities, ErudiFi offers data-driven financing solutions that support student recruitment and retention, which allows students the opportunity to achieve their aspirations by overcoming financial constraints in paying for educational programs.

"Our partnership with Monk's Hill Ventures and Qualgro opens a greater opportunity for us to further our mission in making education more affordable in Southeast Asia. Nearly two-thirds of Filipino and Indonesian youths are unable to access higher education due to the lack of financing, and it is our dream to be able to bridge this gap. With this partnership, we are grateful to be able to pursue our goal of helping students build a better tomorrow,” said Riche Lim, Co-Founder, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Strategy Officer of ErudiFi.

According to the company, its tech-enabled customer and partner onboarding process provides a trusted and accessible solution for students and schools. In addition, student retention is a challenge in Southeast Asia including the Philippines, with many schools experiencing 10-15 percent dropout rates annually, primarily due to financial difficulties faced by students and their families.

To address these challenges, ErudiFi has launched a value-added service providing partner schools with a way to track disbursements and provide real-time analytics, supporting school partners in both recruitment and retention efforts.

“Education financing is a huge opportunity in Southeast Asia. ErudiFi provides a tech and data-driven platform to make access to financing easier for more students while enabling universities and schools to manage and monitor their student pipeline more effectively. ErudiFi aims to shape trusted relationships with universities and partner institutions as they expand in the region and the Qualgro team is excited to work closely with them to scale their reach,” said Heang Chhor, founder and Managing Partner of Qualgro.