FastWeb.com

What FastWeb.com does

FastWeb is a US-based, free-to-consumer online scholarship search platform founded in 1995 and headquartered in Chicago. Its core product is a personalized scholarship matching service: students create a profile capturing strengths, interests, activities, and skills, and the platform's matching algorithm — backed by a human research team that vets every listing — recommends relevant opportunities from a database of 1.5 million scholarships valued at over $3.4 billion. The platform serves approximately 2 million members across US high school, college, graduate, and trade school students, with secondary audiences of parents and educators. Distribution is direct-to-consumer via fastweb.com and an iOS mobile application, with no subscription or premium tier.

The product surface extends well beyond scholarship matching into a broader student-finance ecosystem, including a National Scholarship Directory, Featured Scholarships, FAFSA and financial-aid resources, student-loans information, monthly student-discounts, an internship and career-planning module, and the Invite-a-Friend $1,000 scholarship referral sweepstakes. A curated partnership with Military.com extends reach into service members, veterans, and military families. The platform also functions as a content publisher, maintaining 300+ educational articles and an active presence on Facebook, X, Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok.

The business model is B2C2B: students and parents use the service at no cost, while FastWeb monetizes through (1) display and featured-scholarship advertising from education-finance brands such as SoFi, Sallie, and Niche, and (2) affiliate referral commissions from student-discount partners including Nike, Amazon, and Spotify. The company operates with 11–50 employees, is privately held, discloses no revenue or funding, and is positioned as a top-of-funnel educational resource recommended by tier-1 outlets including GMA, CNBC, Newsweek, Forbes, and People.

Name

FastWeb.com

Legal name

Fastweb

Website

https://fastweb.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

FastWeb is a free US online scholarship matching platform serving high school, college, and trade school students with a 1.5-million-scholarship database, monetized through advertiser sponsorships and affiliate partnerships with education-finance and consumer brands.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scholarship Search Platform

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171), Educational Support Services (6117)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarship, Financial Aid & FAFSA Support Platforms (EDAFAMAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Financial Aid, Scholarships & FAFSA/CSS Profile Support (EDANAEAI), Education Funding Planning (College/529) (FSAEAAAF)

Keywords

• Scholarship search platform
• College financial aid
• Student discount deals
• Internship career planning
• FAFSA assistance

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Affiliate partnerships with discount providers: Fastweb earns revenue through affiliate relationships with companies offering student discounts. The platform features partner offers from retailers including Nike, Amazon, Spotify, and others, earning commissions on qualifying purchases.
2. Advertising and sponsored content: The platform displays featured scholarships and partner-sponsored content. Featured scholarships from companies like SoFi, Sallie, Niche, and others are displayed with partner branding.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

FastWeb is a free scholarship search and matching platform that connects students to approximately 1.5 million college and trade school scholarship opportunities, valued at over $3.4 billion. The platform also provides educational resources on FAFSA, financial aid, student loans, internships, careers, and student discounts, monetizing through advertising and affiliate partnerships with scholarship providers.

Product overview

Fastweb is a free scholarship search platform and educational financial resource that operates as a unified web-based service connecting students to college and trade school funding opportunities. The core product is the Scholarship Search Platform, which uses student profiles to match users with personalized scholarship recommendations from a database of over 1.5 million opportunities. Supporting this core offering are sub-products including the National Scholarship Directory (categorized scholarship listings), Featured Scholarships (curated monthly highlights), FAFSA & Financial Aid Resources (federal student aid guidance), Student Loans Information (borrowing guidance), Student Discounts (exclusive deals), Internship & Career Planning (job search tools), and the Invite-a-Friend Scholarship Program (referral rewards). The platform also provides educational content through articles, news, and expert advice on college preparation and financial planning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Scholarship Search Platform Free online database of over 1.5 million scholarship opportunities totaling more than $3.4 billion, with a matching algorithm that pairs students with relevant awards based on their profile. Designed for high school, college, and trade school students seeking financial aid.
• Featured Scholarships Curated, promoted scholarship listings highlighted on the platform to increase visibility for specific awards offered by partner providers.
• Trade School & Military Scholarships Directory Directory of scholarships specifically targeting trade school students and military-affiliated students, developed in partnership with Military.com.
• FAFSA and Financial Aid Resources
• Student Loans Information Center
• Internship and Career Planning Resources
• Student Discounts
• Invite-a-Friend Scholarship Program Referral program that rewards existing FastWeb members with scholarship entries when they refer friends to the platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,000,000+ members have joined the platform
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Military.comminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFastweb has a curated partnership with Military.com, a leader in military news and information, to provide scholarship resources specifically for military members, veterans, and children and spouses of military members. This partnership helps Fastweb serve the military community with relevant scholarship opportunities.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Scholarships.com: Direct competitor offering a free scholarship search database with profile-based matching for US students; overlaps Fastweb on the core value proposition and audience.
• Going Merry: Free scholarship platform with profile-driven matching and application workflows; targets the same high school and college student segment as Fastweb with a more product-led UX.
• Scholly (by Sallie): Mobile-first scholarship matching app originally built as a Shark Tank startup; now part of Sallie Mae, it competes head-to-head with Fastweb on personalized scholarship discovery.
• Cappex: College and scholarship search platform with profile-based matching; serves the same high school student audience with comparable free tools for finding money for college.
• Raise.me: Micro-scholarship platform that lets students earn incremental scholarships from colleges based on achievements; an alternative mechanism but targets the same scholarship-seeking student persona.
• Unigo: Free college search, scholarship search, and student-content platform offering profile-based scholarship matches; direct overlap with Fastweb's audience and feature set.

Broad incumbents

• Niche: Broad K-12 and college platform with a large scholarship database, college reviews, and K-12 school information; Fastweb is featured as a partner, reflecting Niche's role as a wider-incumbent ecosystem player.
• College Board / BigFuture: Operates the SAT and a free college and scholarship search hub (BigFuture) with massive brand recognition among US high school students; competes for the same audience with a wider portfolio of college-readiness services.
• Sallie Mae: Major student-loan provider that has expanded into scholarship discovery (via Scholly); an incumbent in adjacent student-finance verticals and a featured advertiser on Fastweb's platform.
• SoFi: Student loan refinancing and personal finance brand actively marketing to the same student demographic; featured partner on Fastweb and a key monetization channel in the student-finance space.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/payingforschool
• Facebookfacebook.com/payingforschool
• Instagraminstagram.com/payingforschool
• Pinterestpinterest.com/PayingForSchool
• TikToktiktok.com/@payingforschool
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fastwebscholarships

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FastWeb.com