EDURain just completed a proof-of-concept to the housing component of a suite of financial support elements the platform hopes to offer students entering higher education.
Bryon Pierson, EDURain CEO
“We were able to have ten students apply for, and be approved, for loans for (off campus) housing,” CEO Bryon Pierson told the 4thEst8. “This is the hardest part. You have to get other people to lend money to people that they don’t know yet, and then you have to raise the money too.”
Pierson want’s to help college students trim down their student loan debt by bridging that gap between when a prospective student is accepted into a university, and the first traunch of their loan lands in their bank. Why? Because off campus housing options are less expensive than campus housing, but that first month’s rent and security deposit have to be in place before the student gets to move in. EDURain will also help prospective students apply for student loans, scholarships, and grants and a bunch of other things – but the real estate loan component is key.
“We’re like a student housing company,” he said. “We’re trying to bring together the loan portion, access to housing, and then we’re working with State Farm for renters insurance, and then working with Experian for tenant background checks.”
EDURain was founded in Nov. 2017, has four full time employees, and Pierson says has raised $72,000 in grants and competition winnings from Skandalaris Center, St. Louis Regional Chamber, Impact Ventures, Balsa Foundation, ITEN, Olin School of Business, I-Corps., SLU Research, Spark! And Maryville University.
Links:
On the 4thEst8:
