student-debt
(7)
Candidly
Candidly is an AI-native financial wellness platform that helps employers, financial institutions, recordkeepers and banks deliver personalized guidance on student debt, savings and retirement. Formerly FutureFuel.io, the company optimizes income-driven repayment, powers student-loan-to-401(k) retirement matches under SECURE 2.0, and now runs a multi-agent AI system - the Candidly Intelligence Center, fronted by its conversational assistant Cait - that spans debt payoff, budgeting, college planning and tax-advantaged accounts. Founded in 2016 by Laurel Taylor, Candidly reports it can reach roughly 1 in 2 U.S. workers through its distribution partners.
Optimal
Optimal is a Kirkland, Washington education-data company that uses independent research to help people make better decisions about college and careers. Founded in 2004 by former Microsoft manager Sung Rhee as SR Education Group, it rebranded to Optimal in 2020. Through its consumer sites - OnlineU, GradReports and SwitchUp - it publishes college rankings built on alumni salaries, manually researched tuition, and tens of thousands of verified student reviews, aiming to make the real return on an education visible before students take on debt.
Scholarships360
Scholarships360 is a free, data-driven platform that helps students and families find and fund college. Founded by first-generation college students Will and Brian Geiger, it matches students with vetted scholarships, hosts its own $10,000 'No Essay' scholarship, and pairs listings with expert financial aid and admissions advice. The company says over 15 million students have discovered scholarships and colleges through the platform, with more than 5 million matched in 2025 alone.
Bold.org
Bold.org is a venture-backed platform on a mission to fight student debt by making it effortless for anyone - individuals, families, companies, and foundations - to create, fund, and manage scholarships, fellowships, and grants. Free for both students and donors, it pairs a two-sided marketplace with the nonprofit Bold Foundation, which holds donations in escrow and sends funds directly to students' schools. Since 2020 it has channeled tens of millions of dollars in tax-deductible financial aid to thousands of students.
Will Geiger
Will Geiger is the cofounder and CEO of Scholarships360, a free platform that helps students find and win scholarships to pay for college. A first-generation college graduate himself, he spent nearly a decade inside the admissions machine - reading more than 10,000 applications as a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at Kenyon College, running its merit scholarship program, and counseling teenagers through the college maze at Hopkins School - before teaming up with his brother Brian to rebuild the broken scholarship search from scratch. Scholarships360 raised a $250,000 seed round in 2021 and now reaches students nationwide with vetted scholarships and personalized financial aid guidance.
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.
Dror Liebenthal
Dror Liebenthal is the Israeli-born cofounder and CEO of Bold.org, a San Francisco-based platform that enables anyone — individual or company — to create and manage scholarships, fellowships, and grants at no cost. A Princeton Chemical Engineering graduate (magna cum laude, Class of 2015) who was the first in his family to navigate the US education system, Liebenthal built Bold.org after personally experiencing how a single scholarship changed his trajectory. The platform operates the Bold Foundation (501c3), has distributed millions in student scholarships, and pairs its philanthropy product with the Bold Debit Card, a fintech tool designed to help students manage their money and reduce debt.