Investing in Splash Financial, a Leading Digital Lending Platform and Marketplace

When it comes to tuition, the cost of higher education has never been higher. To help cover that increasing financial burden, degree-seekers in the US are taking on more debt—as of early 2021, 45 million Americans have borrowed $1.7 trillion in student loans, amounting to the second-highest consumer debt category in the country.

Despite that, it’s still difficult for borrowers to find the best loans and lowest interest rates available. That’s because the field is dominated by large lenders with national reach, while smaller regional banks and credit unions—who often boast the best rates—may lack the modern marketing means to get their compelling offers seen by students in need. That low visibility makes for a norm of increasingly high rates, leaving many graduates still paying off debt for up to 20 years or more.

At Citi Ventures, we’ve been on the hunt to support companies that leverage the transparency of our interconnected world to solve this and other lending problems. Our search has turned up many fintechs that offer user-friendly loan payment optimization and education, but ultimately doing little to improve affordability at scale. That’s why Splash Financial (Splash) immediately stood out to us as a leader in the space. Their innovative solution not only fosters greater connectivity throughout the lending ecosystem, but is actively expanding the ecosystem itself.

Splash does this by tending to the specific needs of lenders and borrowers in equal measure. Leveraging turnkey technology, the firm can onboard community banks and credit unions to its user-friendly digital lending platform with minimal upfront investment—allowing them to access and lend to borrowers whom they otherwise would struggle to reach. Meanwhile, borrowers can easily shop for and compare financial products from across Splash’s ever-expanding lender network. Splash’s unique hybrid marketplace model and automated underwriting platform connects borrowers to the best financing across the country, helping them save thousands of dollars refinancing their student loans. As Splash expands to serve more consumers and lenders, this virtuous cycle helps to keep rates low—and customer satisfaction high.

The kind of large-scale network-building required to stand up a business like this doesn’t happen through technical savvy alone, which became clear to us as soon as we met Splash’s Founder and CEO Steven Muszynski. Driven by his community-minded passion, Steve started the firm as a college-savings tool for parents, then pivoted to help doctors find better terms for their student loan obligations. Applying that same dedication and customer-centricity to the lender side of the equation, Steve and Splash have helped regional banks expand their reach and sign new clients. Now, Splash is looking to provide that same passionate service through additional financial products, expanding beyond the education space to personal loans and mortgages.

With the recent addition of sophisticated executives to its C-suite (including alumni from Cross River Bank and Guaranteed Rate), Splash is poised for sound, deliberate growth and is well set up to remain laser-focused on its core mission as it grows and diversifies its offering. That’s why we’re excited to announce our investment in Splash as part of its recent $44.3 million Series B funding round, alongside partners of DST Global, Detroit Venture Partners, and existing investors Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures and CMFG Ventures. We look forward to seeing Splash’s next chapter of growth.

For more information, email Charley Howe at charles.howe@citi.com or Lizzie Guynn at elizabeth.guynn@citi.com.