Summer – a certified B Corp committed to addressing the national student debt crisis – announced it has raised $6 million in new capital with $18 million raised in funding to date. And General Catalyst, QED Investors, Flourish Ventures, Greycroft, Story Ventures, Gaingels, Calm VC, Partnership Fund for NYC, Fenway Summer, BDMI, and Avidbank participated in the financing.
Plus the company also announced it has surpassed $1 billion in total projected savings for borrowers and it has hired Leigh Gross as Chief Revenue Officer to lead partnerships with recordkeepers and other financial institutions interested in Summer Secure, the company’s automated solution for SECURE 2.0 retirement matching.
Student loan debt in the US now stands at $1.75 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve, exceeding credit card and auto debt. It is often the first meaningful debt that young people incur and can lead to a domino effect on their financial life – which makes it harder to save for retirement or buy a home years after graduating. Summer works with leading financial institutions, employers, and unions to provide a high-impact, comprehensive digital solution that helps individuals plan for college costs, reduce the burden of student loan debt, and optimize retirement savings. And to date, the company has delivered over $1 billion in total projected savings for borrowers across the United States, offering assistance on every leg of the personal finance journey.
Summer’s funding comes at an exciting time for the business as it continues to expand partnerships with retirement recordkeepers and payroll providers on the heels of its partnership with Fidelity Investments last year. And due to the recent passage of the SECURE 2.0 Act, many institutions are turning to Summer to support their employer clients with student loan retirement matching, leveraging Summer’s digital API suite and its expertise in operationalizing complex student loan policies into high-adoption solutions.
According to a recent survey, 91% of employees with student debt said they would save more money for retirement if their employer offered a student loan repayment program. And by ensuring that an employee’s student loan payments count toward the retirement match provided by their employer, Summer’s workplace solution can relieve student loan borrowers from having to make an impossible decision between paying down their debt or saving for retirement.
Summer was founded in 2017 by CEO and co-founder Will Sealy, a former Policy Analyst and Assistant to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and a veteran of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Chief Product Officer Paul Joo, with previous experience at the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Boston Consulting Group, and Chief Product Officer Vincent Tran, who previously led product at Pave and Orchard and was an investor at the Partnership Fund for NYC.
Plus Summer’s recent partnership milestones include a student loan benefit launched with Intuit’s personal finance subsidiary Credit Karma and an expanded partnership with the American Federation of Teachers to support their 1.7 million teachers, government employees, and healthcare workers. Summer will use the new funding to expand the platform to help even more borrowers with a holistic approach to financial well-being.
KEY QUOTE:
“We’re thrilled to announce this new funding, especially at a time when the need for better college planning and student loan solutions has never been more acute. As student loan forgiveness hangs in the balance and payments are set to resume for the first time in years, we’re excited to share our solution with more people to enable them to unlock financial freedom.”
- CEO and co-founder Will Sealy
