After pivoting and getting into revenue a little over a year ago, college student housing and fintech startup EDURain was nominated for ‘Supplier/Partner of the Year” by the St. Louis Apartments Association.
Bryon Pierson, EDURain CEO
“Our platform is student reviewed,” CEO Bryon Pierson told bizblip. “We keep growing our students support while giving landlords educated renters, which means less damage… and more available units to students looking to rent.”
Of the 198 vendors in the association, there are five contending for the May 19 award. Three are national suppliers, and two — including EDURain — are from the St. Louis area.
The company initially attempted to put together bridge loans for incoming students to allow them to pay for a deposit for off-campus housing, which is less expensive. Pierson pivoted to a business model connecting landlords with incoming students in early 2022 and got traction (and revenue) right away.
EDURain was founded in Nov. 2017, is headquartered in St. Louis, MO, with Pierson and co-founders Aaron Zheng and Adam Knox-Warshaw being the only three full time employees. They has assembled a team of 15 part time contractors and interns. Pierson says they’ve raised $155,000 from a variety of sources, including FF&F. EDURain participated in, or has been helped by, the Skandalaris Center, St. Louis Regional Chamber, Impact Ventures, Balsa Foundation, ITEN, Olin School of Business, I-Corps., SLU Research, Spark! and Maryville University.
The student fintech space made global headlines recently when JPMorgan shut down the operations of its $175M portfolio company, Frank. The financial giant alleges that 30 year old CEO Charlie Javice created millions of financial transaction records out of thin air. bizblip asked Pierson if his business is being impacted by the scandal.
“We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing by being our honest selves,” he said. “Creating a transparent relationship between our students, our college partners like McKendree and our landlords.”
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