Defynance

It is unbelievable that student debt has grown 6x since 2004 and is second only to mortgages.  We're tackling the growing student debt crises in a very different and responsible way!

Solution

We are different because we DON'T lend money, we refinance student loans with income share agreements or ISAs.  An ISA is just an agreement to share a fixed percentage of income for a set time.  It's basically an income-based repayment plan without the shackles of interest or student debt.  We are responsible because we pay off and remove student loans from the credit report along with offering always affordable payments, career support resources, and even a cash return at the end.  And our end-to-end refinancing process is simple, automated, and always consumer focused.

On the other side of our marketplace is the ISA Credit Fund.  Through it, we leverage investor capital to refinance student loans with the Defynance ISA.  Aligning the goals of our ISA customers with investors, we ensure that our investors make an impact without compromising returns.  We mitigate investor risk through our proprietary algorithm, which utilizes 125 data points and machine learning to project the future earning potential of every refinancing customer.  Investors also benefit from a diversified pool of income generating assets that have low volatility, like fixed income but with returns the are much higher, like equities.

Both sides of the marketplace benefit from the career support resources that provide complimentary career counseling, recruiting, upskilling, and more.  This not only helps optimize income, minimize unemployment of our refinancing customers but also mitigates risk, improves returns of Fund investors.

Market

Initially, we aim to refinance student loans taken out by the almost 7 million borrowers who have Graduate PLUS, Parent PLUS, and private student loans.  This is a $315 Billion market segment of the overall $1.6 Trillion student debt.  Focusing on this most expensive segment allows us to target student loan borrowers who are paying the highest interest rates, have an ascending career trajectory, and provide them consumer protections that differentiate the Defynance ISA from student loans.
 
Traction
 

We've really done a lot with very little!  In 2019 we built our pricing and risk algorithm for income sharing and refinanced the first-ever student loan with a Defynance ISA.  With the advent of Covid, 2020 brought unique challenges but we persevered by creating our online customer portal MVP, curating career support resources, and incorporating macroeconomic risk factors into our underwriting criteria.  And last year, we went through the Techstars Boulder accelerator program, refinanced more student loans, and structured the ISA Credit Fund.  Today, we just graduated from the AlchemistX CSW accelerator and have market validation in the form of an almost $11 Million student loan refinancing pipeline and perfect on-time payment history from processing over 100 payments.  We are now in go-to-market mode onboarding ISA Credit Fund investors to refinance even more student loans. 

Business Model 

We earn revenue from up-front processing fees from student loan refinancing customers and sales charge from Fund investors.  We also receive recurring servicing and fund management fees.  In the future, we will monetize our career support resources to further augment revenue.  Our goal is to refinance $1 Billion in student loans and earn over $75 Million in revenue in 5 years.

Team 

Collectively, Thomas and I have over 60 years of financial expertise with some of the leading banks, insurance companies, and investment firms.  We are also experts in launching alternative financial products, having done it twice before.  We have attracted a passionate team and an expert advisory board.  We are also backed by leading startup incubators and accelerators.  We are the team tailor made to take on the student debt crisis because we know how to mitigate financial risk and optimize investor returns!

Ask

We are now raising a bridge round so we can refinance more student loans with off balance sheet credit capital and build a scalable marketing engine to fuel growth.  Together, let’s invest in the stability, diversity, and earning power of the educated American workforce.  Let’s make an impact by revitalizing the great American middle class and empowering financial freedom, without compromising revenue or returns!