# CommonBond

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CommonBond
> Source revision: 1356444955
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{{UDP|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox company
| logo          = CB horizontal color logo@3x.png
| logo_size     = 320px
| name          = CommonBond, Inc.
| type          = [Private](/source/Privately_held_company)
| founded       = {{Start date|2011|11}}
| key_people    = 
| industry      = Financial Services
| location      = [New York](/source/New_York_City), [New York](/source/New_York_(state))
| area_served   = 
| products      = [Student loans](/source/Student_loans_in_the_United_States)
| 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](/source/University_of_Pennsylvania)'s [Wharton School](/source/Wharton_School_of_the_University_of_Pennsylvania) [MBA](/source/Master_of_Business_Administration) 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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/SoFi)
* [Lending Club](/source/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)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [CommonBond](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CommonBond) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CommonBond?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.