- Springfield, Massachusetts-based fintech company Pay4Education announced it raised $575,000 in funding led by Springfield Venture Fund
Pay4Education is a Springfield, Massachusetts-based fintech company that helps consumers make informed college finance choices by determining costs and monthly affordability in advance. Recently, Pay4Education announced it raised $575,000 in funding led by Springfield Venture Fund — which was created by MassMutual for supporting rapidly growing businesses in the city — with participation from Alchemy Group and several edtech angel investors.
Founded by CEO Patrick Kandianis (fintech veteran) and Colleen Krumwiede (longtime financial aid administrator), Pay4Education has developed the platform to mitigate the effects of mismanaged student debt at the time of purchase and for filling the void of actionable advisory tools.
“Every student and family’s college selection and college finance story is unique,” said Kandianis, “College award letters only provide general insights for a single year at a time and are delivered in a myriad of different formats. We help families cut through the red tape and see a true picture of all four years of costs with just an award letter or a tuition bill. Then we look at outcomes to see if the purchase makes sense.”
Pay4 is actually scheduled to launch in early July and the company plans to use the funds for accelerating product development and ramping up marketing of its family-focused platform. Pay4 works directly with consumers, financial advisors, and college advisors.
“College is one of the largest investments a family will make. Pay4 simplifies all the complexity of this process, across years, siblings, and sources of funding, into one decision platform. It will empower both families and schools, transforming the way people plan and pay for college,” added Alchemy Group partner Chris Sims
Plus Pay4 works with colleges and universities to share its vision in providing a clear understanding of all four years of costs up front. There are several colleges that are beta testing the product with first-year populations this summer.
“With the platform being built and operated in Western Massachusetts, SVF is excited to have experienced entrepreneurs running such a game-changing, consumer-focused business based right here in Springfield,” noted Springfield Venture Fund co-head Jay Leonard.
