A fintech company run by a former staffer to Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-Mass.] who also worked at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has raised an additional $6 million in funding to work with employers, financial institutions, and other organizations help their employees plan for college and reduce their student loan burdens.
The company, called Summer, is one of a growing number of companies aimed at the student loan market, which has been hibernating for three years following a moratorium on payments that was initiated at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, but is getting closer to restarting.
Summer has now raised $18 million in total funding, according to a published report. Since its inception, the company has delivered more than $1 billion in total projected savings for student loan borrowers, according to Will Sealy, the company’s CEO.
“The challenge for borrowers is that in the last year there have been more changes to student loan policy and student loan rules than there have been for the entire decade before,” Sealy said in the report. “The changes are confusing and very bespoke to the type of loan you have, which for the average person, might be a dozen loans: some from private banks, some from the federal government and some issued to your parents.”
Employees at companies that use Summer receive guidance about enrolling in federal and state loan assistance programs, and get help from their employers to pay off their student loans faster, allowing for individuals to pay off their student loans and save for retirement at the same time, Sealy said.
