Boro raises $12 million

Boro , a provider of affordable loans and financial education to students “that have largely been ignored by traditional lenders,” has raised a $12 million Series A round led by Chinese fintech company LexinFintech. In 2018, Boro secured a $100 million dollar line of credit from Arcadia Funds and in 2017, the startup raised a $2 million angel round.

Founded in 2015, Boro’s “proprietary” non-FICO loan application process helps students obtain microloans and build their credit, even without a prior credit history and social security number. Boro offers two products – BoroCash, which allows students to get loans to cover small things like textbooks, class fees, groceries, and test prep materials, and BoroDrive, which allows students to apply for a car loan. Users can apply for loans on the Boro app in minutes and receive funds in 1-2 business days.

Boro is headquartered in Chicago and its financial products are available at over 200 colleges and universities in 31 states across the country.

“Our goal is to create meaningful opportunities for students to build healthy borrowing habits that will serve them well beyond 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.” – Hao Liu, cofounder and CEO at Boro.

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