“I did an internship when I was an undergrad with a microfinance non-profit I had gone to work for a couple other startups in between and I think that’s what attracted me to it.” “I have always had an interest in the way technology can positively impact low socio-economic status people,” Birnholtz said. Steibel was inspired to start the company after watching the documentary “Spent: Looking for Change” and seeing the problems that the underbanked face. PawnGuru is a third-party platform that aims to allow customers and pawnshops to connect in the most efficient way possible. “We have meaningful traction in Detroit… our biggest markets are Chicago, Houston and Atlanta, but we are growing all over the country,” Birnholtz said.īirnholtz was attracted to PawnGuru because he shared co-founder David Steibel’s passion for using technology to serve the “underbanked,” also known as individuals financially underserved by traditional banking systems.

Other than Birnholtz, PawnGuru has two other University-affiliated employees who make up about half of the company. He was taking a business class when one of the PawnGuru investors heard his pitch for another startup and offered him the opportunity to work with them.

Jordan Birnholtz, a graduate student in the School of Information at the University of Michigan, was hired about six months after the startup’s founding. PawnGuru, a Detroit-based financial technology startup, is banking on its goal to transform the pawn industry-with University students.

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