The CFPB is permanently banning BloomTech from consumer lending activities and its CEO, Austen Allred, from student lending for a period of ten years.
Allred founded BloomTech, which rebranded from the Lambda School in 2022 after cutting half its staff, in 2017.
(According to the CFPB, BloomTech originated “at least” 11,000 such loans.)
BloomTech didn’t market the loans as such, saying that they didn’t create debt and were “risk free,” and advertised a 71%-86% job placement rate.
And, unbeknownst to many students, BloomTech was selling a portion of its loans to investors while depriving recipients of rights they should’ve had under a federal protection known as the Holder Rule.
There is perhaps no bigger jump for a startup to make than from the incubatory seed stage to its Series A round.
Enter Lightspeed Venture Partners’ Alex Kayyal, who is coming to TechCrunch Early Stage 2024 to discuss how startups can avoid common pitfalls on the path to raising their own Series A.
Not that raising an A round was ever easy — how many times have we discussed a Series A crunch at TechCrunch over the years?
And, of course, as with all TechCrunch Early Stage events, he’ll answer questions directly.
Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TechCrunch Early Stage 2024?
Masterclass rival Studio launched today its first AI-powered online school for musicians, songwriters and producers to learn from top artists in the industry, create new songs, get feedback from like-minded peers and access Studio’s AI coach that keeps them on track with personalized schedules and deadlines.
Studio’s Music School provides thousands of exclusive lessons taught by over 110 popular artists and instructors, including Charlie Puth, Kygo, H.E.R., Idina Menzel, Pentatonix, Ryan Tedder (frontman for OneRepublic), Alexander 23, Tainy, Chelsea Cutler, Jonas Blue, Shane McAnally and Louis Bell, among others.
There are over 100 topics to choose from, such as vocal production, songwriting, music business, sound design, music theory, cover songs, and musical theater, as well as genres like alternative, classical, country, EDM, folk, hip-hop, indie pop, lo-fi, metal, R&B and more.
The online accelerator features an AI-powered coach that leverages OpenAI’s GPT-4 to deliver personalized curriculums every month based on someone’s interests, specific goals, learning style and level of experience.
It should be noted that Studio’s Music School isn’t designed for beginners looking to start a career in the music industry but for creatives who already know the basics and want to enhance their skills.
Parallel Learning is solving that problem with a teletherapy platform that partners with school districts to create individualized plans for each student.
Parallel’s providers work with a school’s special education program (SPED) to develop a Individualized Education Program (IEP), a legal document in the United States that outlines the personalized education plan for a student with special needs.
Then when the pandemic hit and schools began struggling to serve their students, Heldfond knew it was time to bring her idea to fruition.
One of the main problems Parallel addresses is the shortage of behavioral and special education providers that work with children.
The company partners with K-12 public school districts, reaching out to special education directors, superintendents and others.
A new company, New School Foods, has created a plant-based filet that looks, cooks, tastes and flakes like wild salmon. Their muscle fiber and scaffolding technology to produce whole-cut fish…
