Favio Osorio, Co-founder and President (left) and David Gonzalez, Co-founder and CEO (right)

Over half of U.S. undergraduates are first-generation college students, often facing financial hardships that contribute to a 74% dropout rate among this population. In turn, such high dropout rates cost higher education institutions billions of dollars annually. 

Arbol, founded by first-generation students, aims to increase college graduation rates and reduce student debt. Its platform helps colleges and universities support and retain financially vulnerable students by creating personalized financial plans, offering tools for financial stability and unlocking insights to address common financial barriers. This proactive approach enhances student experiences and provides long-term savings for higher ed institutions.

• 2019: Founders meet at M&T Bank. The pair recognizes college students as an underserved market and begins testing solutions to dozens of ideas on nights and weekends, laying the foundation for Arbol.
  
• May 2021: Arbol is officially incorporated. Arbol 1.0 launches as a platform to help college students understand their financial needs and fill gaps with needs-based grants from individual donors.
  
• January 2022: Arbol's founders join UB’s Cultivator program, leaving their corporate jobs to focus full-time on Arbol.
  
• March 2022: Arbol launches a pilot with Villa Maria College's Achieve Program.
  
• May 2022: Following a year of bootstrapping, Arbol secures funding through a friends and family round, with participation from UB, Launch NY and angel investors. The team moves into UB's Incubator @ CBLS, gaining free co-working space through Cultivator.
  
• November 2022: After analyzing pilot results and feedback, Arbol pivots from a marketplace to a B2B platform, empowering colleges to provide personalized financial guidance at scale.
  
• March 2023: Arbol marks a significant milestone by landing its first three paying customers for Arbol 2.0.
• June 2023: Arbol raises the first leg of its pre-seed fundraising round, fueling further growth and product development.
  
• August 2023: Arbol launches a new platform with five paid pilots, setting the stage for expansion.
• October 2023: Arbol successfully closes a $850k pre-seed round, solifidying its financial foundation.
• May 2024: Arbol wins Village Capital's peer-selected $50k grant award as part of the 2024 ADAPT cohort, gaining industry recognition.
• August 2024: All paid pilots convert to full engagements, with two new institutions joining the platform.
• January 2025: Arbol secures another $250,000 investment from the Western New York Impact Investment Fund.
  
• Looking ahead: With a growing pipeline across major university systems like SUNY, UC, and UNC, Arbol is poised for significant expansion, transforming the landscape of financial guidance in higher education.
  

When Arbol's co-founders joined UB's Cultivator program, they sought a business solution to address high dropout rates among first-generation college students.

With mentorship and a $100,000 investment from UB, the Arbol team refined its target market and piloted prototypes. Insights from the pilot led to a scalable pivot, refocusing the company's customer base on universities. This support throughout Cultivator resulted in paying customers, further product development, and a more viable business model.

After completing Cultivator, Arbol secured an additional $250,000 from UB as part of an $850,000 pre-seed fundraising round. Later, the team continued to attract investments, like another $250,000 from the Western New York Impact Investment Fund. The team continues to work from UB's downtown incubator, where they have access to other startup founders and UB's team of business experts.