edly Announces Seed Round led by Mistral Venture Partners

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Sep 03, 2019, 11:51 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- edly, the income share agreement (ISA) marketplace announced today it recently closed a seed financing round, led by Mistral Venture Partners. The investment will enable edly to more rapidly expand market development and continue innovating in education finance.

As the only complete ISA funding solution, the edly marketplace offers liquidity to schools through its capital market of accredited ISA investors. edly-listed programs include millions of dollars of ISAs from issuers such as Holberton School in San Francisco, V School and Bottega. Pending listings include Sabio, Advanced Welding School and American Diesel Training Centers.

"The payoff for graduating from high-quality colleges and skills academies has never been higher. However, the private student loan system has created barriers to education and skills training. Thanks to edly's school partners and the team at Mistral Venture Partners who share our vision, we see increased ISA adoption which is poised to level the playing field for millions of Americans," commented edly CEO and co-founder Chris Ricciardi.

Mistral Managing Partner Code Cubitt sees the edly marketplace enabling a new asset class. "edly ISAs are by definition more affordable and strongly preferred by students as an alternative to private student loans. edly ISAs link the cost of education to the value it creates, incentivizing schools toward more responsible, student-centric behavior. We're proud to back Chris Ricciardi, Chuck Trafton and the entire edly team at this critical phase of market development," he said. As part of the transaction, Cubitt will join the Board of Directors along with Mistral Principal, Pablo Srugo, and independent private investor Daniel R. Gilbert.

Since ISAs are new, edly published its ISA Principles in 2019 to inspire the industry toward best practices that allow for ISAs to flourish as a driver of education affordability, accessibility and quality.

edly agreed that it will:

Offer an alternative to private student loans which is both more affordable and more flexible
Ask schools to have financial "skin in the game" to ensure alignment of interests
Seek tuition funding for all students regardless of the field of study
Never use FICO because it is biased against certain groups of students
Ensure that there is a reasonable minimum income threshold below which students would not make ISA payments because it would be an economic hardship
Ensure that there is a reasonable cap on the total amount of payments a student would make so they never pay too much, regardless of success
Give students time to find the right job after graduation

edly co-founder and President Chuck Trafton explained further "As merit-based investments, ISAs can play a vital role in alleviating the student debt problem and increase education access and affordability for current and future generations. We're proud of the role our school partners play in evolving the system and thank Code and Pablo for Mistral Venture Partners' support. Mistral's prior experience with online marketplaces and the Mistral Executive Fellows combine to make our relationship special."

"We couldn't think of a better team to take on this challenge than Chris and Chuck; we're proud to partner with them and the rest of the edly team." said Pablo Srugo, Principal at Mistral Venture Partners. "Every ISA-funded school has a cashflow issue, and edly is the answer they've been waiting for."

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For more information, visit edly.info

About edly, Inc.

edly Inc. is the ISA marketplace, connecting accredited ISA investors with ISA issuers such as colleges, skills academies and vocational schools. The company is headquartered in New York.

With one contact point, schools gain access to the entire market of ISA investors through the edly marketplace. And using edly's ISAAC calculator, schools can see how choice of terms relate to the creation of an attractive tuition funding alternative for students. This assists edly in assurance of best execution, quick and easy transactions – no calling around to buyers to shop prices, as edly reaches ready buyers. And schools can easily test the funding terms each month, with certainty of funding – now and in the future, in any amount.

edly was recently named an ISA market visionary by Career Karma. Read their "State of the ISA Market Report-2019" report here

About Mistral Venture Partners

Mistral Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital firm, with offices in both Canada and the United States, is typically the first institutional investor in a company. Our goal is to help position our companies for the next stage of fundraising by working closely with the team to help them grow from early traction to predictable growth.

SOURCE edly, Inc.