.png "Avanse Financial Services rethinks 10 billion rupee IPO as US student visa decline hits loan demand, highlighting risks for Indian education lenders and investors.")
I am Aadi, an MBA in marketing and finance with experience tracking education financing and capital markets. Over the past few years I have studied how policy shifts abroad ripple through India’s financial ecosystem, from student loans to IPO strategies. That lens is what I bring to this story.
Summary:
What happens when US visa rules tighten and Indian students hit unexpected walls abroad. For Avanse Financial Services, it could mean pressing the brakes on a long-planned IPO.
- Avanse finances students heading to over 1,650 institutions across 50 countries.
- More than half of its international loan book is tied to the US.
- Indian student arrivals to the US fell 46 percent in July 2025, pulling down loan demand.
- The company was eyeing a 10 billion rupee IPO alongside a 25 billion rupee investor sell-off.
- Despite headwinds, Avanse raised a 200 million dollar syndicated loan to keep capital flowing.
Avanse Financial Services, a Mumbai based education lender backed by Warburg Pincus, is reportedly rethinking the timeline of its initial public offering after a sudden slump in overseas loan demand. The company had filed draft papers in July 2024, received approval in October, and was preparing to raise about 10 billion rupees. But fresh policy shifts in the United States have clouded those plans [Bloomberg], [Economic Times].
The core issue is student mobility. Avanse has built its portfolio around financing Indian students across 1,650 institutions in nearly 50 countries. The US remains the biggest draw, making up 57 percent of its international loan book as of March 2024 [Inc42].
But in July 2025, arrivals of Indian students to the US dropped 46 percent compared to a year earlier. Overall, student visa arrivals to the US slipped 28 percent to under 79,000. That decline is being linked to tighter rules and processing delays under the current US administration [Scanx].
For a lender like Avanse, these numbers matter more than sentiment. Education loans are directly tied to students’ ability to travel and enroll. Fewer visas mean fewer disbursements. That in turn pressures revenue forecasts, making an IPO less attractive in the near term. Existing investors including Warburg Pincus, Kedaara Capital, and IFC had also planned to offload shares worth roughly 25 billion rupees during the listing [Economic Times].
At the same time Avanse has not been idle. In recent weeks the firm secured a 200 million dollar multi-currency syndicated loan. The deal was designed to diversify funding sources and deepen ties with global lenders [Middle Market]. That move buys the company time while keeping liquidity available for students still heading to destinations beyond the US.
The bigger story here is how reliant Indian education lenders remain on US demand. For decades the US has been the top choice for Indian students chasing higher education. When visa approvals falter, the impact ricochets from families to financiers. If current policy bottlenecks stretch longer, Avanse may need to recalibrate its overseas exposure and investors will watch closely how that reshapes its IPO strategy [HT Syndication].
No revised timeline for the IPO has been announced yet. Sources say the decision is still fluid, hinging on how market conditions and visa flows evolve. For now, Avanse’s story is a reminder that policy changes in Washington can tilt financial strategies in Mumbai almost overnight.
5 to Do and Don’t for Entrepreneurs and Investors:
- Track how global policy shifts impact your core market before committing to a public listing.
- Diversify your portfolio so that one geography does not dictate revenue health.
- Ignore early signs of policy tightening in key markets.
- Assume investor appetite will remain unchanged despite sector shocks.
- Forget that liquidity planning is as important as growth planning.