Achieve Lending is the world’s first free online portal to search, find, and compare education financing in as little as thirty seconds. By combining the power of search with the ease-of-use of a side-by-side comparison engine, we’ve built the very first search engine for student loans.
When Emily DeRuy wrote about us for Fusion, this is what she said:
We couldn’t agree more, and that’s why we built Achieve Lending.
The student loan boom happened, in no small part, because college costs three times as much today as it did just twenty years ago.
Finding the right student loan is a nightmarish process for prospective students. There are endlessly repetitive forms to fill out, no transparency, clunky websites to navigate, and worst of all, there’s no way to compare student loans, so just as the nightmare ends with one site, it’s time to move onto another.
Achieve Lending makes financing an education as easy as booking a flight. Anyone looking to further their education simply opens the Achieve Lending site, fills out a bit of information like your school and how much money you need, and Achieve Lending then presents you with the best options for their needs.
For lenders, the process is no less demanding. Today’s lenders struggle to lend at the same volume they’re used to given the surge of new entrants into the marketplace- and it’s a highly fragmented marketplace. Simply put, it’s difficult to compete in today’s student loan market.
And that’s only half the battle. Without proper risk assessment tools, lenders may find it increasingly difficult to ensure the integrity of the loans they process.
Achieve Lending rewrites the entire industry to make it easier for lenders to compete and acquire customers. In exchange, Lenders pay Achieve Lending referral fees in a variety of forms (refer to the Business Plan section for more information).
The strength (and beauty, we might add) of Achieve Lending lies in the simplicity of the process. Give us just a few pieces of information about the type of loan you’re looking for, and we’ll analyze potential loans—we have the widest selection of financing options available—and suggest a series of loans that fit your unique needs.
We’re causing a bit of a stir. When you simplify a problem as complex and overwhelming as education financing, you’re bound to attract some attention.
Achieve Lending has been featured in Forbes, Huffington Post, Fusion, and The Boston Globe, to name a few.
We’ve also been featured in more than 30 industry blogs and several radio shows and podcasts.
We have many exciting goals in mind for the future, too. One that we’re particularly excited about is the addition of lender reviews, which will allow anyone receiving a loan through Achieve Lending to leave reviews based on their experience, helping future students make more informed decisions. We hope to become the Yelp of education lenders.
** For additional information about our trajectory and plans for the future, including market overview, distribution strategy, business model, competitive landscape, financials, and future development, please refer to Business Plan section.
Allen founded Achieve Lending at just 27 years old. Prior to that, he spent six years working with the world’s premier financial firms, with positions in investment banking, private equity, angel investing, and consulting. He founded Achieve Lending after going through the student loan process himself. When he found that there was no better way, he created one.
Colin is the head of product and tech development. He previously cofounded Canopi, a platform to connect bloggers with brands, and grew the site to reach over 18 million people.
Spencer is a Cincinnati-based developer and founder of Handlebar Labs, which helps small businesses improve their digital strategies.
Matthew promotes Achieve Lending by developing advertising campaigns to reach new users and partners. He co-founded social media management company Social Vantage in 2013. Under Matthew’s leadership, Social Vantage has a fast-growing client base with a multitude of international reseller partners.
Tim Hinchliffe is a journalist and marketer who has worked across Africa, Europe and South America, and his experiences include dining with the President of Ghana. His editorial work has been covered by publications including the BBC, CNN and Fox. Tim has a bachelors degree in Linguistics.