Rick O’Donnell, Founder and CEO of Skills Fund, said in a news release.
Austin-based Skills Fund, a financing platform for bootcamps and tech skill training schools, announced Tuesday that it has been acquired by San Diego, Calif.-based Goal Structured Solutions.
The acquisition was an all cash deal but the sales price was not disclosed.
Skills Fund, founded in 2015, previously raised $11.5 million in seed stage funding.
“We created Skills Fund four years ago with a simple premise: don’t finance students to go to crappy schools. We’ve delivered on that promise by underwriting the quality of education to ensure programs genuinely deliver career outcomes worth a student’s time and money,” Rick O’Donnell, Founder and CEO of Skills Fund, said in a news release. “Furthermore, student demand for lenders who focus on real outcomes is off the charts. By teaming up with Goal, we will have additional resources to serve even more students at a broader array of programs that deliver great outcomes.”
Skills Fund partners with more than 70 schools and 400 programs. It lends money to students participating in programs in software development, web development, data science, and cybersecurity
Goal is the largest third-party provider of student loan services and currently manages a portfolio of over $26 billion.
“This transaction is an exciting opportunity to continue expanding our commitment to outcomes-based lending. Higher education is moving away from encouraging students (and their parents) from taking out student loans for an education that doesn’t pay off. Skills Fund is at the forefront of fixing the misalignments among accreditors, lenders, and schools regarding what is best for the student. With Skills Fund now a part of the Goal family of companies, we further strengthen our efforts as the leader of outcomes-based student lending,” Ken Ruggiero, Chairman and CEO of Goal, said in a news release.
Skills Fund will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Goal, with the Skills Fund team continuing to be based out of Austin. O’Donnell and co-founder Joseph Kozusko will continue to lead the company.
