D.C. financial technology firm MPower Financing has landed another hefty chunk of debt financing to help more students pay for college.
The student loan provider said it raised an additional $150 million in loan capital, bringing its total financing to date to more than $300 million. It closed a $150 million facility with Goldman Sachs in May.
The latest raise includes a new commitment from Minneapolis alternative investment firm Värde Partners as well as increased funding from Deutsche Bank, which has provided MPower with financing in the past, the company said.
Led by Emmanuel "Manu" Smadja, MPower finances loans predominantly for international students coming to the U.S. and Canada for master’s degrees and MBAs. Its loans in all cases are fixed rate and do not require collateral or a co-signer. The public benefit corporation has clients from about 200 countries and works with over 400 universities in the U.S. and Canada. A small part of its portfolio — roughly 2% — is made up of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, recipients.
The firm was No. 31 on our October ranking of Fastest Growing Companies, with revenue increasing 57.5% between 2021 and 2022, from $7 million to $11 million.
Smadja said the loan financing would help the 9-year-old company continue its “exponential” growth. “More graduate students than ever before want to come study in North America, particularly in STEM and business fields,” Smadja said in a statement.
Those students, Smadja added, go on to help fill worker shortages at U.S. companies that are “in dire need of tech talent, business leaders, and healthcare workers.”
In 2022, the company issued loans to 5,000 students. Earlier this year, Smadja told me he aimed to double that in 2023. The company said Thursday that it was on track to issue loans to 8,000 students in 2023 by year end.
Separate from its loan facilities, MPower has raised $160 million in venture capital funding in its lifetime. The two most recent rounds were in 2021: It raised $30 million in the first few months of that year, followed by a $100 million raise in July 2021.
A slew of senior-level executives have joined MPower so far this year. Anand Cavale became MPower’s chief growth officer in April. Previously, Cavale oversaw SoFi’s student loan and personal loans business, and before that, spent decades at Citibank.
MPower hired Amit Kothiyal as chief customer and operations officer in September. Kothiyal is based at the company’s Bengaluru, India, office, which it now lists as a dual headquarters alongside D.C. India represents “the largest share of MPower’s student population,” according to the firm’s website.
