LendLayer Raises $400,000 Seed Round to Help Aspiring Developers
LendLayer announced this week that it has raised $400,000 to help aspiring developers finance their education at coding bootcamps.
The seed round was led by Skype cofounder Jaan Tallinn and Bluefin Labs cofounders Michael Fleischman and Deb Roy.
The problem for these students is that coding academies typically range in cost from $10,000 to $20,000, making them difficult to afford without massive savings since traditional banks and lenders are not able to help most students. LendLayer aims to simplify this process by providing financing to students through their accredited lenders, who earn a low risk return while helping the technology ecosystem.
“Unlike traditional lenders or other peer-to-peer lenders, LendLayer focuses less on the credit score and more on the future earning potential of the students,” the startup explains. “Interest rates are driven by the bootcamp being attended, their GitHub commits, work experience per LinkedIn, and even social factors like Twitter and Facebook.”
LendLayer says its main goal is to help people achieve financial independence by improving their earning potential and livelihood through technical education. LendLayer is starting pilot programs with Hackbright Academy, MakerSquare, and others.
Based in San Francisco, LendLayer was cofounded by Sebastian Fung, who graduated from the University of Waterloo.
