student-loans
(5)
Climb Credit
Climb Credit is a New York-based fintech lender that finances career-focused education such as coding bootcamps, trucking, healthcare, cosmetology and aviation programs. It partners with vocational schools to offer private loans and interest-free recurring payment plans, using an AI-driven credit model built on more than 150 data points so applicants with limited credit history can still qualify. Founded in 2014, Climb has funded tens of thousands of learners and vets partner schools to ensure programs actually improve graduates' earning potential.
Backer
Backer is a San Francisco fintech company that makes it easy for families to open and grow tax-advantaged 529 college savings accounts, letting relatives and friends chip in through shareable gifting pages. Founded in 2016 as CollegeBacker, the company acquired the education-savings resource Saving For College in December 2023 alongside a $9.5M Series A round, pairing its consumer savings app with one of the web's most-used 529 research destinations.
Spinwheel
Spinwheel is an Oakland-based fintech that provides real-time consumer credit data and embedded-payments infrastructure through developer APIs. Using a credentialless approach that needs only a phone number and date of birth, Spinwheel lets lenders, personal-finance apps, and debt-management companies connect, verify, and act on a consumer's debts and liabilities. The platform supports the full consumer-credit lifecycle - from segmentation and prequalification to disbursement, management, and payment - and, as of its 2025 Series A, powers more than 15 million users and 165 million connected accounts representing over $1.5 trillion in connected debt.
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.
Funding U
Funding U (legally Funding University) is an Atlanta-based fintech lender that gives high-achieving undergraduates private student loans without a cosigner and without relying on FICO scores. Instead of judging students by their family's credit or wealth, the company underwrites loans using academic performance, progress toward a degree, likelihood of graduating, and projected earnings - factors a student actually controls. Founded in 2015 by Jeannie Tarkenton, Funding U aims to serve low- and moderate-income students that traditional private lenders won't touch, positioning its product as a responsible 'last-gap' option that fills the space left after grants, federal aid, and scholarships run out.