CommonBond Raises Over $100M In National Expansion

NEW YORK, Sept. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- CommonBond, a leading student lending platform, announced today it has raised over $100M in equity and debt financing to fund and refinance student loans.

The equity financing was led by Tribeca Venture Partners in New York and includes The Social + Capital Partnership in Silicon Valley. Other investors include respected industry veterans in former Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit, former Thomson Reuters CEO Thomas Glocer, and former Barclays senior executive Tom Kalaris.

CommonBond is now accepting applications from students and graduates of 20 MBA programs and has plans to roll out the platform to additional graduate degrees, including law, medical and engineering.

"We are thrilled to extend our loan program nationally to many more MBA graduates and students," said David Klein, CommonBond co-founder and Chief Executive. "Student debt continues to pose a tremendous challenge for graduates and students, and we're excited to bring to market a solution that eases that debt burden. We're starting with MBAs and will expand from there."

MBA graduates who carry student loan debt are able to consolidate their MBA & undergraduate loans through CommonBond at a fixed rate of 5.99% (with automatic debit). These MBA graduates can save over $17,000 compared to their federal government loan rates. Additionally, current MBA students are able to finance their loans at a fixed rate of 6.24%, compared to the Federal Graduate Direct PLUS loan at 6.41%.

"At CommonBond, our goal is to shift the culture of borrowing," Klein added. "Our borrowers really value not just great rates, but also first-rate service, a supportive professional community, and a social mission that allows them to power social good."

CommonBond's Social Promise is the first of its kind in education and finance: for every fully funded degree on the CommonBond platform, the company funds the education of a student in need abroad for a full year. The company has partnered with the African School for Excellence to fulfill their promise.

"CommonBond is uniquely positioned to address both the borrower and lender sides of this market," said Brian Hirsch, managing partner at Tribeca Venture Partners. "The founders started the company because of a personal pain point, so they can truly identify with the needs of their Millennial borrowers. They also have strong backgrounds in finance and have leveraged their experience to secure the capital needed to address the student debt burden while providing attractive returns to investors."

ABOUT COMMONBOND

CommonBond is a student lending company that is shifting the culture of borrowing through low rates, first-rate service, and a supportive community of borrowers, lenders, and friends. The company launched its inaugural loan program in November 2012 at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where company co-founders – David Klein, Michael Taormina, and Jessup Shean – met as MBA students. CommonBond has now expanded to 20 MBA programs with its recent $100M+ financing round and plans to expand further into Law, Medical, and Engineering graduate programs. CommonBond is the first company to bring the "one-for-one" model to education and finance through the company's global Social Promise.

SOURCE CommonBond

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