Statistics show there are currently 45 million people in the United States who owe a total of nearly $1.6 trillion in student loan debt. To deal with that massive problem, Tony Aquilar, founded an innovative company called Chipper, a socially conscious company which helps transform the way student loan borrowers analyze, manage, and pay back their student debt.
Today, BlueKey Equity Partners (BKEP), a small to middle-market private equity firm, announced the completion of its investment in Chipper. “This platform, which helps pay off debt, was developed by a young Hispanic man,” said BlueKey Equity Partner Felix De Herrera. “It’s important to our firm to help give minority entrepreneurs the financial backing — something they may have difficulty obtaining elsewhere.”
Aguilar, who serves as CEO of Chipper, is a serial FinTech entrepreneur and an active voice in the Latinos in-tech movement. As a first-generation high school graduate from a small Texas town, he carried more than $100k in student debt after college. His personal experience is the driving force behind his pioneering work in the student loan space. His mission is to build modern financial products for a generation straddled with student debt.
Student loan debt statistics for 2020 show how serious the crisis has become, impacting borrowers across all demographics and age groups. It is now the second highest consumer debt category — behind only mortgage debt — and higher than both credit cards and auto loans.
In fact, student loans are imposing crushing burdens on millions of Americans, young and old, with the average student loan debt for members of the Class of 2018 is $29,200, according to the Institute for College Access and Success. The economic hardship, not to mention the pressures of repayment, strikes particularly hard at Black and Latino student loan borrowers who default at a higher rate than any other group. (Community Service Society, Jan. 31, 2019).
“BlueKey Equity Partners is convinced that Chipper will help so many people deal with their student loans. More importantly, if they can deal with their debt burdens, they’ll have funds available for other things like buying a car or even a house. That can only help our economy,” said DeHerrera.
With this venture, BlueKey Equity Partners joins an impressive group of investors in Chipper, including a commitment from Solomon (Sol) Trujillo, co-founder of L’Attitude, and an international business executive.
