Boro, a U.S.-based provider of loans and financial education to students, announced on Wednesday it secured $12 million through its Series A funding round, which was led by Chinese fintech group, LexinFintech. Founded in 2015, Boro claims to be a leading consumer financing platform for college students. The company’s description reads:
“With its proprietary underwriting system, Boro is revolutionizing the existing consumer financing industry by providing convenient and affordable financial solutions to college students, who are underserved in the current market.”
Hao Liu, Co-Founder and CEO of Boro, stated that the platform’s goal is to create “meaningful” opportunities for students to build healthy borrowing habits that will save them past their time in college.
“Students today are overserved by unethical lenders. Boro breaks that pattern by helping users get access to stress-free financing that helps them grow their financial confidence, and protects them from high-interest rates and hidden fees.”
Boro reported that it is planning to use the investment round’s funding to expand its offerings to more colleges and universities in more states, as well as further improve its financial technologies by leveraging LexinFintech’s expertise in serving underbanked Generation-Z users in China and managing risk with advanced technologies. The company added:
“Boro will also use the new funding to increase its market penetration in the U.S. BoroCash, which was launched in July, is currently available in 15 states. Since its launch, the number of customers with a credit line has increased by over 300%. Boro projects that about one-third of the 20 million college students in the U.S. could benefit from its products.”
