Second Home Ownership Startup Summer Raises $68M

Go Summer—a U.S.-based second home ownership platform—has raised a Series A funding round worth $18M and secured a further $50M debt facility.

The round was led by QED Investors and Viola FinTech, with no fewer than nine other minor investors. The debt facility was secured in partnership with Setpoint Capital.

The startup had previously raised $13.4M in seed funding—also led by QED Investors—in June 2022 after launching last January.

Summer is a proptech aimed at streamlining second home ownership by letting prospective homeowners "try before they buy", while also guaranteeing them an income after purchase—to lower the cost of ownership and increase the rate of equity gains.

Buyers have the option to have pre-loaded credits that can be used to stay in their homes and can divest after a two-year lock-in period for a full refund.

Other features of the business include end-to-end management of the purchasing process from submitting offers to performing due diligence; an immediate ownership option that offers an in-house property manager to line up reservations; and a hands-off property management service that lists the property on rental platforms, handles social media marketing, messages guests and responds to reviews.

Buyers can invest for as little as 15% up-front, instead of the typical 20% in the U.S. Owners then pay a monthly membership fee based on expected usage of the property.

Summer also takes care of design, and furniture delivery with the help of a professional interior design team.

The firm was founded by two former Airbnb employees (CEO Paul Kromidas and COO Woods Buckley).

Kromidas said:

"With this fundraise, we’ll be expanding nationally, enabling more customers than ever before to make a purchase that makes sense for them—a smart investment that they love to spend time in."