VARIV Capital, a Latin America venture capital firm, and Chilango Ventures, an investment firm with offices in San Francisco and Mexico City, have invested in MPOWER Financing.
The investment aims to help the fintech firm expand its presence in Latin America and attract a greater number of high-potential students to America’s best colleges and universities.
Latin American students already represent 25 percent of MPOWER’s outstanding loan portfolio, with Mexico representing the third-largest student population currently studying in the US through MPOWER’s financial support.
“We have worked diligently to attract sophisticated investors like VARIV Capital and Chilango Ventures who know and understand the regions we are working in,” says Alonso Garza, chief investment officer, MPOWER Financing. “As someone who was born and grew up in Mexico, I know how important it is for MPOWER Financing to have trusted partners who are part of the fabric of the country and who can help us attract the best and brightest from Mexico and other Latin American countries looking to study at the best universities in the US.”
With the addition of these two new equity investors, MPOWER Financing has assembled a diverse global investor base that is enabling the firm to fulfil its mission to provide educational loan support to high-potential, international students who do not fit within traditional credit assessment models.
Currently, MPOWER Financing, founded in 2014, has a pipeline of more than USD120 million in loan applications from students in Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa which it expects to fill in 2017. The recent investments are part of the closing of MPOWER Financing’s Series A funding.
VARIV Capital invests in early-stage technology companies in Mexico and Latin America. It has invested in more than 20 high-growth companies in the fintech, e-commerce and supply-driven marketplace sectors.
“We were attracted to MPOWER Financing based on its success in enabling high-potential, Latin American students to pursue their educational goals in the US. Financial firms like ours, and the Latin American technology companies we partner with, will ultimately benefit from the pool of qualified young people who attend top colleges and universities thanks to MPOWER Financing’s financial assistance,” says Jose Bolaños, partner at VARIV Capital.
Chilango Ventures has invested in MPOWER Financing as part of its early-stage, high-return investment strategy. Chilango Ventures looks for start-ups that can take advantage of significant disruptions in the financial sector and the related ecosystem.
“MPOWER Financing is a game-changer in the fast-growing, international student loan market,” says Carlos Ochoa, founding partner, Chilango Ventures. “It occupies, by itself, a unique niche that facilitates the bringing together of international, full-paying students to colleges and universities needing to diversify their student bodies while maximising their tuition base.”
