FinTech News
Student Loan Benefit FinTech Summer Raises $6 Million
For years, student debt has been one of the most talked about financial topics. What’s more, while the debt itself has become a major part of many Americans’ lives, discussion of student loans has become political due to efforts to forgive certain loan repayments. However, while we wait for resolution on that front, a FinTech that brings student debt benefit solutions to employers and consumers has raised a new round of funding.
This week, Summer announced that it had raised $6 million. The new financing included participation from General Catalyst, QED Investors, Flourish Ventures, Greycroft, Story Ventures, Gaingels, Calm VC, Partnership Fund for NYC, Fenway Summer, BDMI, and Avidbank. To date, Summer has now raised more than $18 million. With the fresh capital, Summer plans to expand its platform in order to help even more borrowers.
Founded in 2017, Summer is a Certified B Corp that aims to help consumers with student loan debt to increase their financial well-being. Among the solutions, the platform offers is the ability for employers to offer student loan payment matching or assistance. Additionally, the platform enables employees to find customized repayment plans. On average, Summer users are able to save $282 per month on their loans. According to the company, they recently reached the milestone of saving borrowers a projected total of more than $1 billion. Elsewhere, Summer has also recently seen some major partnerships, including with Credit Karma and the American Federation of Teachers.
Commenting on the investment raise, Summer CEO and co-founder Will Sealy said, “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.” He added, “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.”
Even if planned student loan forgiveness policies do go into effect, the sad truth is that there will be plenty of student debt held by American consumers. With that reality, platforms such as Summer will be useful not only to borrowers but also to employers looking to retain and help their employees. In turn, it’s no surprise that investors would want to come aboard and support Summer’s mission. So, while there may be uncertainty when it comes to the student debt crisis, the continued success of Summer seems like much more of a sure thing.
