ChangED is an app that rounds up transactions to help pay off student loans. One the ChangED app user hits the $100 mark, ChangED sends the $100 to her student loan processor. It might not sound like a lot but if one can pay an extra $50 a month toward a student loan, she can save up to $10,000 in interest over the years. That’s no joke. The founders of ChangED Dan Stelmach and Nick Sky of Chicago, Illinois, pitched their business on Shark Tank in January 2018. They went into the Tank seeking an investment of $250,000 in exchange for 15 percent equity. They had the good fortune of pitching in front of Mark Cuban, an advocate of lowering student loan debt (not forgiving it). They shook on $250,000 for 25 percent.
[The ChangED app is free to download; there is a $1 per month charge]
One month after the Shark Tank episode aired, Sky said ChangED’s next step is “to get into the hand of millions of more borrowers who are looking to get out of student loan debt sooner.” The company is working on an Android app and will roll out a Friends & Family feature so loved ones can contribute their loose digital change to pay off their son’s or nephew’s or neighbor’s student debt. [Related: 27 Favorite Shark Tank Products — New List]
