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SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Social Finance Inc. (SoFi) today announced that it has raised $77.2 million in series B funding led by Baseline Ventures and joined by DCM and Renren Inc. (RENN), Chinas largest social networking site. SoFi is an innovative lending solution that gives students access to lower loan rates than Federal Direct and PLUS loans with similar borrower protections by fostering social and economic connections with alumni investors. The new capital will be used to help SoFi grow its alumni investor base and reach new student and graduate borrowers as it expands beyond 78 schools this fall.

With more students applying for loans for post-secondary education coupled with state budget cutbacks for higher education and a federal loan market that can punish good borrowers, the student loan and debt crisis is getting worse before its going to get better, said Mike Cagney, CEO of Social Finance. Through SoFi, we have been able to create a whole new market that gives students better alternatives to fund their education while strengthening ties to their alumni community.

The SoFi program works as a dedicated lending fund that offers students a better fixed loan rate than todays unsubsidized Federal Direct and PLUS loans. At the same time it enables alumni to connect with their alma mater while earning an attractive return. The program also fosters interaction between students and alumni through a unique social platform that combines on-line and off-line connections that facilitate financial literacy, career mentoring and in-school project assistance ultimately helping to reduce lending rates and lower loss rates for students.

To date, SoFis lending program is available in 78 schools ranging from large universities such as Stanford and University of Michigan to smaller colleges such as Smith and Swarthmore. It will expand beyond 78 schools this fall.SoFi has generated more than $60 million in loan applications and is on a path to commit more than $200 million in student loans in 2012.

When taking the current and foreseeable macro environment into account, there is a massive opportunity for SoFi to disrupt the entire finance market, said Steve Anderson, founder of Baseline Ventures. Alumni across the country want to be more involved with their universities and many have savings sitting on the sidelines earning no interest. At the same time students need lower loan rates to make college more affordable and need help with career decisions and mentoring. SoFi makes the economics work for everyone: students benefit from lower rates and alumni support, and alumni earn better returns and add value to their schools through SoFis community lending engagement model.

In March, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that student debt had passed $1 trillion. In addition, a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York revealed that the delinquency rate for student loans, which is currently at 8.9 percent, increased during the second quarter of 2012. This compared to the delinquency rates for mortgages (6.3 percent), credit cards (10.9 percent) and auto loans (4.2 percent) which all decreased.

There are very few companies that do social good while also leveraging next generation financial and social networking services, said David Chao, co-founder and general partner, DCM. Student loans are a major national issue that needs to be resolved. Through SoFis unique approach they are not only helping students through financial literacy and reducing their loan rates, but also enabling alumni to connect with their alma mater and truly give back to their community.

As a pioneering company pushing the potential of social infrastructure, we closely observe and participate in other online businesses that are leveraging social to create, market and distribute products at scale, said Joe Chen, CEO of Renren. SoFi lies at the nexus of the social revolution, which began with social gaming and social ecommerce and is now poised to transform finance and education.

About SoFi

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Social Finance Raises $77 Million to Address Student Loan Crisis

11-09-2012 01:08 Money Mantra: People have started using social networking websites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to express their opinions, feelings. On Money Mantra, NDTV's Mehraj Dube and a panel of guests discuss the impact of an increasing usage of social media websites. Watch full show:

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Money Mantra: Impact of social media - Video

TOKYO, Sept. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Humans face some huge global environmental challenges these days, including climate change, resource depletion, habitat loss, and declining water supplies, to name just a few. The list is long and just seems to get longer. These crucial issues often don't get the attention they need given how important they are, and I've often wondered why and what we can do about it. Green social networking with groups like GreenITers could be part of the solution.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120910/CG70877)

Efforts by environmental groups to stir responses to problems often boil down to fear and facts. Neither of these tends to mobilize the intended response. Trying to stir a response by making people afraid tends to do the opposite- driving them away. And bombarding people with facts often fails to stir a response because facts seldom engage positive emotions that we do respond to. Facts alone don't usually make us get up off the sofa and take positive action, but our feelings do.

There are clear strategies we can use though to mobilize a greater response to environmental challenges, tapping into our human nature to work with it rather than against it. One of these is tap into our human need to be social, and another is our human need to have purpose in our lives that is greater than merely existing. We want to do things that matter and we want to do it together. Green social networking helps us to meet both of these needs.

Humans are inherently social animals, having evolved this way over millions of years. We not only enjoy each other's company, but we have a deep need to connect socially with others. When we connect with others helping to solve environmental challenges, part of being social means that we want to do it too. When it comes to environmental action, there is a great power in numbers.

GreenITers is a green social network that helps connect people engaged in taking environmental action, helping them to share ideas, help each other, and accomplish more. The group has grown rapidly, with membership spanning the globe, recently passing 10,000 members altogether. "We are getting stronger in India and China but recently in a member count, we were surprised to see that the U.S actually leads the pack with over 3,000 members," said GreenITers founder Flavio Souza, from Brazil originally and currently living in Tokyo. Souza is starting small, connecting with individuals, but has some big dreams in mind about having a positive impact on our world.

"In general, people are joining now to learn and be coached by other eco-minded fellows, so that has been the main contribution of GreenITers, to connect those minds, in the middle run I sincerely hope that our community may serve to motivate others to expand their green knowledge for making the environmental movement go main street" said Souza. "There is a huge unconscious demand for a change in behavior for a greener path but many people are new to the subject so they are looking out for a community to learn how to make the switch to a greener way of life."

GreenITers has sub-groups focused on specific challenges and opportunities, for those who are excited about renewable energy, recycling, climate change, green building, or other areas. Signing up is free, and it could be one more step toward building a better planet.

When I look at what GreenITers is doing, I changed my mind about one thing though. I don't think they are simply a green social network. They are building a community of people engaged in important work together. There's a big difference between the two, and as they grow and tackle more challenges together, the difference will only grow.

Joe Sato, Fullcircle Innovations, 03-3505-5565, media@fullcircle.co.jp

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Green Social Networking May Save the Human Species...

ScienceDaily (Sep. 10, 2012) Time spent on social networking sites comes at the expense of other activities -- including physical activity, new research by the University of Ulster has revealed.

That is one of the findings of a study presented at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society's Division of Health Psychology in Liverpool at the weekend.

Around 350 students at the University of Ulster completed an online survey -measuring social networking activity and levels of physical activity.

The research was carried out by Masters degree student Emer O'Leary, under the supervision of psychologists, Dr Wendy Cousins and Dr Tadhg Macintyre at the University of Ulster.

The results showed that the vast majority of students used social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter spend an average of one hour a day online. In the physical activity questionnaire, just over half the students were classified as; 'moderately active' and a third were 'high activity', with a minority (12.7 per cent) falling into the 'low physical activity' group. A quarter of the respondents said they took part in team sports.

When the results were analysed, researchers found that the amount of time spent on social network websites was negatively correlated with the respondents' level of physical activity in the previous week. Facebook fans were also less likely to take part in team sports, but this effect was less pronounced.

Dr Cousins said: "Time is a finite resource, so time spent in social networking must come at the expense of other activities. Our study suggests that physical activity may be one of those activities.

"Our findings are intriguing, but we have not conclusively demonstrated that social networking causes lower levels of physical activity. We will need to carry out more research to see if it really is a case of Facebook makes you fat rather than Twitter makes you fitter."

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10-09-2012 03:29 After facing ire on arresting cartoonist Aseem Trivedi, Mumbai police is ready to give his custody. He was remanded to police custody on Sunday on charges of sedition over a series of cartoons. Mumbai police took u-turn reportedly after Maharashtra home minister RR Patil said there is no need to keep Aseem in police custody. Trivedi was arrested on Saturday for displaying allegedly insulting caricatures of Parliament, Constitution and the national emblem at Anna Hazare's protest last December and for posting them on a social networking site. "If telling the truth makes me a traitor then I am one, I haven't done anything wrong, bail is against my ethics." Trivedi said. For more log on to

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Won't apply for bail: Aseem Trivedi - NewsX - Video