Dealflow | July 18, 2018

LendingTree acquires Student Loan Hero for $60 million

Jessica Pothering
ImpactAlpha Editor

Jessica Pothering

ImpactAlpha, July 17 – Student Loan Hero was launched by Andy Josuweit, a 2009 college grad who was grappling with more than $100,000 in student debt but was unable to find a job. He started the company to help other indebted grads manage loan repayment and plan financially.

The company has since helped 200,000 borrowers manage, refinance and repay $3.5 million in student loan debt (out of the country’s $1.4 trillion student debt book) while also providing other financial education and planning resources.

Student Loan Hero has been acquired by online lending marketplace LendingTree. LendingTree described the deal as a “strategic transaction” for scaling its own student loan business. Josuweit csaid that having mostly bootstrapped the business since it started (Student Loan Hero received $40,000 for its participation in Startup Chile), shared values, particularly around consumer empowerment, were key to the sale.

“We have a similar origin story,” he told Austin Inno. “I think there are a lot of shared values.”