# Jordan Lee

> Jordan Lee is the San Francisco founder and CEO of Backer and CEO of Saving For College, building technology that makes 529 education savings easier to understand, open, manage, and share with family and friends. His path runs from coding in Marin County and studying China at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Brookings to Y Combinator, enterprise software, and a long campaign to make education finance more collaborative.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Backer; CEO at Saving For College
- **Organizations:** Backer, Saving For College, Collections, ClearSlide, Brookings Institution, Y Combinator
- **Education:** Bachelor's degree, Harvard College, Master's degree in East Asian Studies, Yale University, Master's degree; pursued doctoral study in political science, Princeton University, Summer 2012 batch, Collections, Y Combinator
- **Known for:** Built Backer into an SEC-registered internet investment adviser focused on 529 plans., Led Backer's $9.5 million Series A financing and acquisition of Saving For College in 2023., Helped Backer's consumer app reach more than 200,000 parents and children and a projected $250 million in education savings by the 2023 financing announcement.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2012** — Researched public policy at the Brookings Institution after studying China and East Asian politics.
- **2012** — Co-founded Collections with Tony Xiao, entered Y Combinator's Summer 2012 batch, and built a universal file finder for cloud services.
- **2012-2013** — Served as co-founder and CEO of Collections.
- **2013-2015** — Worked as a product manager at ClearSlide.
- **2015-present** — Founded and leads Backer, and serves as its chief compliance officer and lead investment adviser representative.
- **2017** — Backer's consumer 529 savings app debuted.
- **2021** — Backer rebranded from CollegeBacker and announced an $8.4 million venture round.
- **2023** — Backer raised a $9.5 million Series A led by WndrCo and acquired Saving For College; Lee became CEO of Saving For College.
- **2025** — Appeared on Scholarships360 to discuss 529 flexibility, starting early, and reducing analysis paralysis.
- **2026** — Continues as Backer's CEO, chief compliance officer, principal owner, and a material stakeholder.

## Achievements

- Built Backer into an SEC-registered internet investment adviser focused on 529 plans.
- Led Backer's $9.5 million Series A financing and acquisition of Saving For College in 2023.
- Helped Backer's consumer app reach more than 200,000 parents and children and a projected $250 million in education savings by the 2023 financing announcement.
- Created a social-gifting model in which Backer reported 40% of savings came from family and friends.
- Co-founded the Y Combinator Summer 2012 company Collections.
- Earned a Series 65 license and serves as Backer's lead investment adviser representative.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Backer's current Form ADV identifies Lee as founder, CEO, chief compliance officer, principal owner, and a material stakeholder in the firm.
- **2025-11** — Appeared on Scholarships360's podcast to discuss starting small, avoiding analysis paralysis, employer contributions, and expanded uses for 529 plans.
- **2023-12** — Led Backer's $9.5 million Series A financing and acquisition of Saving For College.

## Links

- Website: https://jordanlee.cc/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanglee
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/jordanglee

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jordan-lee
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-18