Student Loans from Select Colleges and Universities + Lower Rates than Sallie Mae + Social Community with Alumni support = SoFi

SoFi or Social Finance has followed the above equation and found great success in the Student Loan refinancing market. As a result, they have raised yet another $80M in a C round to expand their footprint and dive into other loan markets.

Name: SoFi

Website: https://www.sofi.com/

Funding to Date: $161M Equity, ~$400M Debt (Full Details here)

Deal Notables: Part of this funding will be for SoFi’s first foray out of the student loan business and into other lending verticals (mortgages, etc.).  This could be a daunting task for most startups for fear of growing too big too quick, but given SoFi’s track record of successful loan refinancing with a committed investor and applicant base, we see them having a strong case for exploring expansion.

This round was for preferred equity (we presume) but SoFi is the first company we have featured here on C:V. that has debt (And a large chunk of it!).  There does not appear to be any additional debt raised in this funding, but we do admire the fact that SoFi can play in both markets simultaneously so effectively.  Check out the piece in Time on them too!  Great read about how they are transforming the lending industry.