Edu-wealth startup Zinc, launched by Prashanth Ranganathan, former PayU Credit CEO, and PaySense founder, recently raised $25.5 million in seed funding. Nexus Venture Partners led the funding round, with support from Quona Capital, EDBI, Global Ventures, and Saison Capital.
Based in Singapore, Zinc plans to use these funds to drive product innovation, broaden its offerings, and acquire key financial licenses to support families in saving and investing for their children’s global education.
“I left PayU and took a little bit of time to understand the space around foreign education. I realized that there is a huge latent demand among people who are looking to send their kids overseas for education, not for any other reason but (because) they find it very competitive in the domestic market. I noticed that most parents have the aspiration of wanting to send their kids overseas and having them educated on the global stage,” Ranganathan, the founder and CEO of Zinc, said.
After his exit from Prosus-owned PayU in 2023, Ranganathan explored investment opportunities for his new venture. In January 2020, he sold his previous startup, PaySense, to PayU for $185 million.
Zinc, launched in April 2024, aims to help students and parents create a solid financial foundation for covering the rising costs of international education. Initially, the company introduced Zinc Honors, an all-inclusive product suite offering investment tools that spread savings across global markets and reduce currency risk, alongside an AI-based educational counselor, Ada, to guide young students in India.
Ranganathan announced that Zinc co-developed a wealth fund with Singapore’s Leo Wealth, which is scheduled to launch in November. This fund allows parents to invest and reach a target corpus within a set timeframe for their children’s overseas education, featuring expert advice and rebalancing options.
Zinc has received approval for a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) license from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and initial approval to operate as a Payment Service Provider (PSP). Furthermore, Zinc has applied for a brokerage license from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) at GIFT City.
According to Ranganathan, these licenses will enable Zinc to provide personalized investment advice, secure international payment solutions, and grant access to global markets.
“India is emerging as a key geography for students pursuing global education opportunities. Nexus is delighted to partner again with Prashanth and Team Zinc in their vision to support parents and students in realizing their global education goals in a planned and transparent manner with a best-in-class combination of education advisory and financial services platform,” Anup Gupta, managing director, Nexus Venture Partners, said.
