Female founder has support of venture capital firm investing in female leaders
More help is on its way! That is what so many college students and graduates are so glad to hear, given the sizeable amount of debt they hold, while trying to build their future. Now Candidly, a comprehensive student debt and savings optimization platform, will help even more people with their latest funding round gained by its record growth last year.
To ease the financial burden of those with high student debt, Candidly partners with employers, retirement recordkeepers, and financial services companies to embed its technology within each partner’s own digital experience. By taking this step, partners are helping those in the workplace pay down debt faster and more cost effectively, leading them to have more savings for their future.
Laurel Taylor, Founder and CEO of Candidly, sees the current funding as having a significant impact. The MIT graduate and former Google executive shares publicly her own experience of having approximately $200 thousand in student debt at the beginning of her career—that motivates her to help others.
“Our Series B round of financing places us in a unique position of opportunity and responsibility, empowering the largest financial services companies in the world to engage and transform the financial wellness and retirement readiness of those who believe that education – past, present, and future – is part of their path to prosperity,” said Taylor.
Candidly has the support of Altos Ventures that led the $20.5M in a Series B round of financing with follow-on participation from Cercano Management. The six year-old student debt startup gained venture capital backing after achieving 10x revenue growth last year and a 3,600% increase of payments flowing through the Candidly platform. This caught the attention of Rethink Impact— a venture capital firm investing in female and non-binary leaders who are using technology to solve the world’s biggest problems
“As the largest impact VC Fund in the country investing in female CEOs tackling our world’s greatest challenges, Candidly is the quintessential example of technology being used as an economic equalizer and a company being led by a phenomenal CEO with the vision, leadership, and tech chops to change the lives of millions of Americans,” said Jenny Abramson, Founder & Managing Partner of Rethink Impact, a Candidly investor since 2019.
In the company’s recent statement, Candidly noted that 47 million student loan borrowers owe a collective $1.8 trillion, and most critical is that repayment will soon begin following a 3 year pause. Of those holding debt, Candidly highlights that “a majority of Americans today do not have even $400 to cover an unexpected emergency expense”, giving greater perspective to the student debt challenge.
Candidly’s platform has the built-in capability to quickly respond to policy changes that are intended to help student debt holders such as the recently passed SECURE Act 2.0. With this legislation employers are able to assist financially insecure workers by matching employees’ student loan payments, as well as by making emergency savings contributions, with tax-advantaged retirement contributions. In anticipation of its passage, Candidly developed a full suite of solutions for the Act.
Through ongoing innovation, Candidly established its track record of rapid product development such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness tool. By accessing it, borrowers are better able to understand and access critical federal student debt relief programs.
The student debt startup is now solidly in a high growth stage that has timely investor support. The company’s digital platform will be able to help more people to better manage their full lifecycle of education expenses. They now have the support necessary to pay down their student debt, while also starting down the path of a more financially secure future.
