Education tech financing firm marks over P1 billion in tuition loans

College students at a state university. – Local education technology financing platform Bukas said Monday, October 14, 2024, it has crossed over the P1 billion mark in tuition funding for the country‘s youth sector. (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

Local education technology financing platform Bukas said it has crossed over the P1 billion mark in tuition funding for the country‘s youth sector.

This development was the latest milestone for the company, which has seen its local market grow in value to multiple hundreds of millions of pesos annually.

Bukas president Jon Robert Emlano said Monday that this market segment is still largely underserved, expressing optimism that they will be able to help more Filipino youth pursue education this year.

“There is no one else offering this kind of financing. Not even the banks want to touch this market segment. For me, it’s a wide-open market that nobody wants to enter,” Emlano told the Inquirer, noting that their loan portfolio has grown to around P375 million as of 2022.

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Bukas, whose parent company is Singapore-based startup ErudiFi, is a tech-enabled education financing platform offering affordable tuition loans.

Touted as a “student-first brand,” it has helped around 21,000 students in more than one hundred partner campuses nationwide since it started operations in the Philippines in 2019.

Partners educational institutions in Metro Manila include De La Salle University, Centro Escolar University, Technological Institute of the Philippines, Adamson University, Mapua University, National Teachers College, Our Lady of Fatima University, Far Eastern University (FEU), and FEU Tech, among others.

Bukas is also partnered with schools outside the Philippines’ urban metropolis, including Saint Louis University, Cebu Institute of Technology-University, PHINMA Education, and University of the Visayas.

The Universidad Instituto de Empresa (IE University) in Spain and the Singapore-based creative business school Hyper Island Asia are also among their partners.

More specialized institutions such as Aviair Aviation, Benilde’s SPaCE, MUD Studio, DivergenZ Training and Consulting, and TopRank Review Academy are also part of the roster.

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Emlano said they are eyeing more partners in the future, with ongoing discussions with at least three educational institutions.

“Our position is that there is no amount of technology improvement in terms of education delivery, education management or however education services will improve in the future that will be as important as making sure that the students are there because they can afford to be there,” Emlano said.

“That’s why we have taken a first-principles approach in trying to help solve it, and our way is trying to help provide options,” he added.

Aside from expanding their partners, Bukas has also continued to grow its services with the launch of gadget loans.

The new product helps students to own a personal laptop or tablet through flexible payment plans.

“I think getting the message of hope out and giving students more options is our primary duty,” Emlano said, adding that the available options could aid students finish their education, focus, and have the opportunity to do well in life.