Cintana (IFC-50830)

Regions
  • World
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
C
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Apr 30, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Cintana Education
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Education and Health
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 7.50 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS May 13, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Apr 1, 2026


Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, Cintana leverages the expertise of its seasoned management team and the exclusive contract with Arizona State University (ASU) that provides access to their curriculum and student-facing technologies via a content repository and use of mark and brand. As of year-end 2025, Cintana provides services to 36 universities in 30 countries, reaching 330,000 students. The proposed Project is a $7.5 million investment in fully paid non assessable convertible preferred shares and will facilitate the expansion of higher education clients in emerging markets, including satellite campuses and greenfield universities.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

This is a Category C project, according to IFC's Policy on Social and Environmental Sustainability, as IFC's environmental and social (E&S) due diligence indicates that the project presents minimal E&S risks and impacts. The Company leases office space and uses off-the-shelf equipment to provide consulting services to higher education institutions in emerging markets. While all IFC Performance Standards (PSs) are applicable to this investment, the E&S issues in this project relate to: i) life and fire safety at office spaces; and ii) labor and working conditions including policies such as prevention of sexual harassment, equal opportunity, and grievance mechanism. IFC concluded that E&S issues and risks are managed in a manner consistent with PS 1 and 2.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

The proposed Project is a $7.5 million investment in fully paid non assessable convertible preferred shares.

Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Cintana Education Holdings, LLC is an education management services company, helping higher education institutions worldwide achieve scale and academic excellence through long-term strategic partnerships, curriculum development, and operational support.

Cintana's principal shareholders include its Founder and Chairman, Douglas Becker; co-founding investors Steven Taslitz and Chris Hoehn Saric; and Arizona State University (via ASUEP Holdings, LLC). Other investors include prominent family office investors with an interest in education and social impact. The Company's co-founders, Douglas Becker, Steven Taslitz, and Chris Hoehn Saric, are the Project's Sponsors.

The Company is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, USA, however its operations are Global, with a focus on emerging markets in Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East.      

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Cintana Education Holdings, LLC Client -

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

For Inquiries About the Project, Contact

Cintana
Rafael Sia
Chief Financial Officer
Emailinfo@cintana.com
info@cintana.com
1130 E University Dr #101, Tempe, AZ 85288
https://cintana.com/
 
Local Access of Project Documentation
1130 E University Dr #101, Tempe, AZ 85288

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

How it works

How it works