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NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Summer, an innovative approach to second home ownership founded by former Airbnb employees, today quietly announced the official launch of its offering. Summer allows prospective homeowners to try out a home before buying and guarantees post-purchase income to reduce ownership costs. Now anyone interested in owning a vacation home can visit gosummer.com to learn more about Summer’s flexible and streamlined approach. Following the launch of their product, Summer also announced $13.4 million in seed funding led by QED investors and Lightspeed Venture Partners with the participation of 1Sharpe Ventures, first minute capital and a list of industry angel investors.
“We are delighted with the Summer Team’s commitment to increasing homeownership,” said Frank Rotman, Partner at QED Investors. “Homeownership should work for the owner, not the other way around.”
Summer is on a mission to change the way people buy and use second homes. Traditionally, buying a home has been a rigid and complex process with high upfront costs and misaligned incentives. With Summer, prospective homeowners have the opportunity to own real estate for less, with the ability to earn equity faster and try a home before they buy.
“Not only are we giving people access to spaces where they can spend time with family and friends, but we’re helping them make smart financial investments in big, appreciating markets,” said Paul Kromidas, co -Founder and CEO of Summer. “We are creating sustainable ownership and access to an asset class traditionally out of reach for many people. Owning real estate is a powerful lever for creating wealth and generational financial security and we are delighted to contribute to this.
Because the summer team is committed to helping more people achieve second home ownership, they have redesigned every step of the homeownership process to put the buyer first – from selection, the purchase and design of the house to rental logistics, maintenance and property management:
- House selection: buyers can choose from Summer’s collection of ready-to-live-in homes or partner with a top-tier Summer agent.
- Property Options: buyers can choose to buy a home immediately with guaranteed income or they can take advantage of Summer’s “try before you buy” offer.
- Simplified experience: Summer designs and furnishes the house to maximize rental performance, then manages all the logistics of the property.
- Access to the summer network: Summer members have access to the entire network of Summer homes – from a mountain retreat to a beach side bungalow.
“We saw an opportunity to take the complexities out of this major financial decision and give people a glimpse behind the curtain of homeownership,” said Summer Co-Founder and COO Woods Buckley.
Currently, Summer operates seven residences in five markets, including: the Hamptons; Hudson Valley, New York; Miami, Florida; the Colorado and Utah Rockies and Southern California. With the new capital, Summer will focus on expanding homes and markets, as well as expanding their first remote team. The company is currently recruiting in the areas of engineering, sales, interior design and operations.
“Summer’s founders bring strong proptech experiences from their previous work at Airbnb and other industry-leading companies,” said Ansaf Kareem, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. “They are driven by a mission to reinvent the process of owning and managing a second home. At Lightspeed, we’re excited to join them on this journey to democratize second home ownership.
For more information on summer, visit: www.gosummer.com.
ABOUT SUMMER:
Summer is on a mission to enable more people to access second homes by reducing entry and permanent costs, reducing the red tape associated with the traditional process and mitigating future risks for members. The company was founded in New York by Paul Kromidas and Woods Buckley and launched in 2022. To date, Summer has raised $13.4 million in funding from investors including: 1Sharpe VenturesBeluga Partners, first minute capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners and QED investorsas well as a number of strategic and angel investors.
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