# Clasp

> Clasp is a Boston-based workforce and fintech company that ties student-loan repayment to employment, helping healthcare systems recruit and retain clinicians. Using a model it likens to military ROTC, employers commit to students before graduation and repay their loans over time in exchange for a multi-year work commitment. Founded in 2018 as Stride Funding and rebranded as Clasp in 2024, the company links education and employment to attack two problems at once: crushing student debt and chronic clinical staffing shortages.

- **Founded:** 2018
- **Headquarters:** Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- **Founders:** Tess Michaels (Founder & CEO)
- **Team size:** 73
- **Products:** Loan-Linked Hiring, Retention-Driven Recruitment Platform, Student Loan Sync & Repayment Management
- **Notable:** Raised a $20M Series B in 2026 to scale its loan-linked hiring model, Employers have committed more than $130M in student loan repayment, Reports retention rates more than 2.5x higher than traditional hiring models

## Products & services

- **Loan-Linked Hiring** — An ROTC-style model in which healthcare employers commit to students before graduation and repay their student loans over time in exchange for a multi-year work commitment, delivering a pipeline of committed clinical talent.
- **Retention-Driven Recruitment Platform** — A platform that matches current students and trainees with employers nationwide for hard-to-fill clinical roles - nurses, physical/occupational/speech therapists, radiologic technologists, respiratory therapists and more.
- **Student Loan Sync & Repayment Management** — Technology that syncs and manages employer-sponsored student loan repayment tied to tenure, eliminating the need for signing bonuses and reducing reliance on contract labor.

## Achievements

- Raised a $20M Series B in 2026 to scale its loan-linked hiring model
- Employers have committed more than $130M in student loan repayment
- Reports retention rates more than 2.5x higher than traditional hiring models
- Supports more than 10,000 individuals on its platform
- Rebranded from Stride Funding to Clasp in September 2024 with identity work by A Hundred Monkeys and Mackey Saturday
- Founder Tess Michaels named Forbes 30 Under 30 (2020) and won the MIT FinTech Competition Grand Prize (2019)

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Closed a $20M Series B led by Crosslink Capital and Digitalis Ventures, with total funding reaching roughly $50M and named new health-system customers.
- **2026-05** — Forbes published a video feature, 'Building The ROTC For Healthcare: How Clasp Is Erasing Medical Student Debt.'
- **2024-09** — Rebranded from Stride Funding to Clasp and closed an oversubscribed $10M+ venture round.

## Links

- Website: https://clasp.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/claspofficial
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/clasp_official
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/claspmates

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/clasp
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-15