Gray Matters Capital-backed Taleem Finance Company Ltd. Launched to Provide Low and Middle Cost Private Schools in Pakistan with Access to Education Finance Services.

Set up as an NBFC with a license from Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Taleem Finance’s Loan products will cater to the infrastructure and working capital needs of such schools besides meeting the financial needs of teachers and parents.

Ties up with Lahore based Ali Institute of Education for investing in customized education quality improvement programs in partner schools.
Taleem Finance Company Ltd. (TFCL), a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) set up with a license from Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), has been launched with the objective of providing education finance services to low and middle cost private schools (L&MCPS) in Pakistan, making it the only dedicated financial institution in the country to cater to infrastructure and working capital needs of such schools. With financial backing as well as technical expertise and experience from US-based impact investor Gray Matters Capital (GMC) in facilitating school improvement initiatives across the globe, TFCL will strive to improve the quality of learning outcomes in its partner schools by enabling infrastructure improvements and establishing best practices.
This marks GMC’s second investment in Pakistan after having funded digital health platform doctHERS under its gender lens portfolio – coLABS.
“Access to customized financial products has been seen as a critical success factor around the world for the improvement of education services in developing countries” said Ms. Erika Norwood, President and Chair of the Board, Gray Matters Capital, at the launch event. Outlining the investment rationale, she added “Our experience as an organization in the social impact space has been characterized by strong customer focus, forging creative partnerships and staying curious to solve problems in the school ecosystem. We believe that there’s a need for an organization like Taleem Finance which will play the role of a catalyst in Pakistan’s education sector, which will not just improve access to education and enhance the quality of private schools in the country, but also bring about gender equity through education finance.” Loan Products catering to the Entire School Ecosystem.
“There are over 120,000 private schools with 10 million students and 1.5 million teachers spread across 5 provinces of Pakistan. With over 23 million children being out of school, we as a company see access to education finance can correct many such social wrongs. It is with this vision of removing barriers to the rights of every child to get quality education, that Taleem Finance has been set up.” said Mr. Kamran Azim, CEO, Taleem Finance Company Ltd. Taleem Finance’s portfolio includes loan products that not just cater to schools but also teachers, parents as well as school vendors.
For schools, TFCL has loans catering to working capital requirements (Taleem School Sarmaya) as well as collateral backed loans for fixed assets, equipment and infrastructure (Taleem School Asasah). For investing in capacity building of teachers and school principals, TFCL has Taleem Teacher Sahulat while school fees loans called Taleem Jari Sahulat from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 500,000 can be availed by parents to fund their children’s education. TFCL also caters to contractors and suppliers of school products such as canteen operators, stationery shops and uniform providers among others with Taleem Dost Sahulat.
Partnerships for School Quality Improvement Programs.
In order to make schools capable of delivering the curriculum at the highest quality and to make them profitable by equipping school leaders with key performance indicators for monitoring progress, TFCL will conduct customized education quality improvement programs called Taleem Quality Improvement Programs for its customer schools. TFCL has partnered with specialized training providers like the Lahore based Ali Institute of Education for implementing this program.
Brand Launch.
The launch of TFCL, which was held at Pearl Continental Hotel, was attended by some of Pakistan’s leading finance and education professionals.
Mr. Syed Iftikhar H Naqvi, Additional Registrar CRO Lahore, Company Law Division, Corporatization & Compliance Department of the SECP shared his views on the importance of companies like Taleem Finance to address the critical agenda of improved education quality being imparted by these institutions. He also spoke about the easing of regulatory stipulations introduced by SECP in the formation of companies.
TFCL Chairman Mr. Amjad Ali Arbab took the opportunity to thank the Chairman of SECP – Mr. Aamir Khan who saw TFCL as a nation building company while narrating an inspiring personal story that led him to set up the enterprise.
Ali Education Institute was represented by its Board member Syeda Henna Babar Ali and Rector Mehr Agha who shared the details of their collaboration with TFCL. Sadaffe Abid of Circle Pakistan highlighted the importance of organizations like TFCL in empowering women and girls through education.
Lahore head quartered The Smart School, among the first clients of TFCL was represented by its director Waseem Ejaz.
The highpoint of the evening was the fireside chat conducted by TFCL’s CEO Kamran Azim with GMC Board Directors Erika Norwood and Michael Davis which centered around GMC’s focus on Affordable Low Cost Private Schools; risk reward trade off in investing, importance of customer centricity, continual learning and creating significant social impact through ecosystem building.
Media Contact:
www.taleemfinance.com .