SpenDebt won the “Best Investment” title at Missouri Athletic Club’s first MAC Tank Pitch competition for local startups, sponsored by Polsinelli law firm in St. Louis. Five entrepreneurial groups competed for the title. SpenDebt is a financial technology company designed to assist people to pay off debt leveraging micropayments through everyday transactions. As consumers spend, a pre-defined amount is added on top from their bank account and sent to their creditors to pay down their debt.
The company was founded by Kiley and Ty’lisha Summers, a husband and wife team, both engineers who found themselves with more than $100,000 of consumer debt after they graduated from college. Debt was nothing new, Ty’lisha Summers said, as growing up in single parent homes, it was engraved in them that you would always owe someone.
Determined to break these generational curses, the couple set a plan to get out of debt. They hired a financial advisor and listed out their loans. If there was any feeling of guilt or shame, Ty’lisha Summers said, being transparent together made the exercise invaluable and deepened their personal relationship beyond numbers on paper.
The debts were prioritized from least to greatest, and they set a date to become debt-free. They set a realistic budget and began their journey. Seven years later, they were debt-free. In sharing their testimony they realized others were suffering from the same issues.
“God sent the vision to create a tool to help people pay off debt in parallel with their spending habits,” Ty’lisha Summers said, “and SpenDebt was born.” Their mission is to turn generational curses into generational wealth. “Becoming debt free not only increases your bank account,” Ty’lisha Summers said, “but opens doors and provides you the ability to make a greater impact on the world.”
For more information, visit https://www.spendebt.com or email info@spendebt.com.
