{{UDP|date=March 2018}} {{Infobox company | logo = CB horizontal color logo@3x.png | logo_size = 320px | name = CommonBond, Inc. | type = Private | founded = {{Start date|2011|11}} | key_people = | industry = Financial Services | location = New York, New York | area_served = | products = Student loans | revenue = | num_employees = | website = {{URL|http://commonbond.co}} }}
'''CommonBond''' is a company that refinances graduate and undergraduate student loans for university graduates.<ref name="money">{{cite news |last=Mulhere |first=Kaitlin |date=2015-09-23 |title=Why Now Might Be the Best Time to Refinance Your Student Loans |url=http://time.com/money/4045088/student-loan-refinancing-growth-and-risks/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926000432/http://time.com/money/4045088/student-loan-refinancing-growth-and-risks/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 26, 2015 |newspaper=Money Magazine |access-date=2015-09-23}}</ref> CommonBond also provides in-school loans to MBA students at 20 programs in the United States. The company launched nationally in September 2013.<ref name="bloomberg">{{cite news |last=Campbell |first=Dakin |date=2015-06-10 |title=Pandit-Backed CommonBond to Sell Student Loans to Wall Street |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-10/pandit-backed-commonbond-to-sell-student-loans-to-wall-street |newspaper=Bloomberg Business |access-date=2015-09-23}}</ref>
==History == CommonBond was founded in November 2012 by David Klein, Michael Taormina, and Jessup Shean, who met at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School MBA program.<ref name="ft">{{cite news |title=Graduate investors fund the next generation |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/a5752af0-9235-11e2-851f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2WWlag6yR |newspaper=Financial Times |date=21 April 2013 }}</ref> The impetus was the founders' frustration with the lack of affordable loan options to fund their own graduate school education.<ref name="ft" /> For their business proposal, the trio was accepted to the Wharton Venture Initiation Program, which serves as a start-up incubator.<ref>{{cite news |title=Another Low-Cost MBA Loan Option |url=http://poetsandquants.com/2013/01/08/another-low-cost-mba-loan-option/ |newspaper=Poets & Quants |date=8 January 2013 }}</ref> After deciding to pilot their model at Wharton, the group focused on fundraising during 2012. By the company's launch in November 2012, $2.5 million had been invested by Wharton alumni and $1 million of seed funding was provided by a Wharton alumnus in return for a stake in the company.<ref name="ft" /> CommonBond's first fund lent to 40 MBA students and recent graduates at Wharton.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}
CommonBond expanded to 20 MBA programs across the United States in September 2013, after announcing it had raised over $100 million in equity and debt financing.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lending Start-Up CommonBond Raises $100 Million, With Pandit as Investor |url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/lending-start-up-commonbond-raises-100-million-with-pandit-as-investor/?_r=0 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=4 September 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Wharton start-up CommonBond extends loans to 20 US MBA courses |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/943f5148-13d6-11e3-9289-00144feabdc0.html |newspaper=Financial Times |date=4 September 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=MBA Loans Seek to Shift the Culture of Borrowing |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/video/mba-loans-seek-to-shift-the-culture-of-borrowing-0r_lzCzAS9CUeDJmZB3S2g.html |newspaper=Bloomberg Television |date=9 September 2013 }}</ref> In March 2014, CommonBond expanded its student loan refinancing and consolidation programs to graduates of law, medical, and engineering programs across the US.<ref>{{cite news |title=With Over $100M Raised, P2P Lending Platform CommonBond Expands To 100 Programs To Help Grad Students Reduce Debt |url=https://techcrunch.com/2014/03/21/with-over-100m-raised-p2p-lending-platform-commonbond-expands-to-100-programs-to-help-grad-students-reduce-debt/ |newspaper=TechCrunch |date=21 March 2014 |accessdate=24 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=CommonBond extends MBA loan scheme |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/5a80c9a8-aeb5-11e3-a088-00144feab7de.html#axzz2wuGUEHzb |newspaper=Financial Times |date=19 March 2014 }}</ref>
In February 2015, CommonBond expanded its student loan refinancing program to 14 graduate degree programs.<ref>{{cite web|title=CommonBond Refinancing FAQs|url=https://commonbond.co/faqs/refinance#faqs-refinance-113|website=commonbond.co|publisher=CommonBond|accessdate=5 February 2015}}</ref> At that time, the company also announced a financing partnership with Nelnet (NYSE: NNI). Nelnet committed $150 million to fund CommonBond loan volume and made an equity investment in the company.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Saitto|first1=Serena|title=CommonBond Obtains $150 Million in Boom for Online Lenders|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-05/commonbond-obtains-150-million-in-boom-for-online-lenders|accessdate=5 February 2015|agency=Bloomberg Business|date=5 February 2015}}</ref>
In September 2015, CommonBond raised $35 million in Series B funding from August Capital, Nyca Partners, and Victory Park Capital, in a round led by August Capital.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Henry|first1=Zoe|title=CommonBond Gets $35 Million Funding, Wants to Cut Woes Behind Student Loan Refinancing|url=http://www.inc.com/zoe-henry/lending-startup-commonbond-raises-35-million-from-august-ventures.html|accessdate=8 September 2015|agency=Inc Magazine|date=8 September 2015}}</ref> Shortly thereafter, the company announced the expansion of its student loan refinancing program to graduates of over 2,000 universities, as well as the introduction of its Parent PLUS Loan refinancing program.<ref name="money" />
== Products and services == In September 2015, CommonBond introduced a new Parent PLUS loan refinancing program, whereby parents who borrowed federal Parent PLUS loans to finance their children’s undergraduate education can refinance those loans through CommonBond.<ref name="money" />
CommonBond announced a partnership with Prodigy Finance, an international post-graduate student lender, in July 2015. The partnership allows international post-graduate students to secure funding for their business school education in the US through Prodigy Finance, which determines the terms and conditions of the student loans.<ref>{{cite news |last= Bhattacharyya |first=Rica |date=2015-07-09 |title=CommonBond, Prodigy Finance ink pact to expand MBA loan options for foreign students in US |url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-09/news/64243621_1_international-students-foreign-students-partnership |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925124015/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-09/news/64243621_1_international-students-foreign-students-partnership |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 25, 2015 |newspaper=Economic Times |access-date=2015-09-23}}</ref>
== See also == * SoFi * Lending Club
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{Official website|http://commonbond.co/}}
{{Crowdfunding platforms}}
Category:Social finance Category:Student loans in the United States Category:Companies based in New York (state) Category:Financial services companies established in 2011 Category:Privately held companies based in New York (state)