# Backer

> Backer is a San Francisco fintech company that makes it easy for families to open and grow tax-advantaged 529 college savings accounts, letting relatives and friends chip in through shareable gifting pages. Founded in 2016 as CollegeBacker, the company acquired the education-savings resource Saving For College in December 2023 alongside a $9.5M Series A round, pairing its consumer savings app with one of the web's most-used 529 research destinations.

- **Founded:** 2016
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founders:** Jordan Lee (Founder & CEO), Abby Chao (Co-founder)
- **Team size:** 29 employees
- **Products:** Backer 529 savings app, Custom gifting pages, Saving For College, Cashback savings rewards
- **Notable:** Grew to over 200,000 parent and child accounts, Helped families save a projected $250 million for education, with 40% from family and friends beyond the parents, Raised $9.5M Series A led by WndrCo (Dec 2023)

## Products & services

- **Backer 529 savings app** — Consumer app for opening and managing a state-sponsored 529 college savings account, with automated contributions and savings-goal tracking.
- **Custom gifting pages** — Shareable pages that let family and friends contribute directly to a child's college fund, framing 529 contributions as gifts.
- **Saving For College** — Education-savings media and research property covering 529 plan comparisons, rules, and calculators, acquired by Backer in December 2023.
- **Cashback savings rewards** — Program that lets users earn cashback on everyday shopping and route it into their 529 account.

## Achievements

- Grew to over 200,000 parent and child accounts
- Helped families save a projected $250 million for education, with 40% from family and friends beyond the parents
- Raised $9.5M Series A led by WndrCo (Dec 2023)
- Acquired Saving For College, a leading 529 media and research property (Dec 2023)

## Latest updates

- **2023-12** — Backer raised a $9.5M Series A led by WndrCo and acquired Saving For College, bringing together its consumer savings app with the category's leading research media property.

## Links

- Website: https://backer.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/backer529
- Twitter/X: http://twitter.com/CollegeBacker
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/CollegeBacker

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/backer
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-13