# Louis Beryl

> Louis Beryl is the co-founder and founding CEO of Earnest and a general partner at Four Cities Capital. His difficulty obtaining affordable financing helped inspire Earnest’s broader approach to evaluating borrowers. His career also includes SolidEnergy, Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator and Rocketplace, which he co-founded with his Earnest colleague Ben Hutchinson.

- **Role:** General Partner at Four Cities Capital
- **Organizations:** Four Cities Capital, Earnest, Rocketplace, SolidEnergy Systems, Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator, Morgan Stanley
- **Education:** B.S.E., Operations Research and Financial Engineering, Princeton University, Master in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School, MBA; George F. Baker Scholar, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Co-founded Earnest and led its development from personal lending into student loan refinancing., Led Earnest during its 2015 $75 million Series B financing., Co-founded SolidEnergy while studying at Harvard.

## Career timeline

- **2003** — Graduated from Princeton and began trading energy derivatives at Morgan Stanley in New York.
- **2012** — Completed Harvard’s MPP/MBA program; Harvard profiled his work on SolidEnergy.
- **2012-2013** — Worked at Andreessen Horowitz, including internal data science and investment work.
- **2013** — Co-founded Earnest with Benjamin Hutchinson and became its founding CEO.
- **2014** — Earnest launched publicly with personal loans.
- **2015** — Earnest introduced student loan refinancing and announced $75 million in Series B equity plus $200 million in institutional lending capital.
- **2016-2018** — Served as a part-time partner at Y Combinator.
- **2017** — Navient announced a $155 million cash acquisition of Earnest in October; the transaction closed in November.
- **2018** — Navient terminated his employment on January 24; a later jury found it lacked cause under the relevant employment terms.
- **2019** — Co-founded Rocketplace, subsequently presenting it as a professional-services marketplace before its later crypto offering.
- **2022** — Rocketplace announced a $9 million seed financing round led by Launchpad Capital.
- **2023** — An April district-court ruling awarded $920,666.33 in severance-plan benefits and waiting-time penalties; appeals followed.
- **2026** — Four Cities Capital’s public team page lists him as a general partner alongside George Davies and Ben Hutchinson.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Earnest and led its development from personal lending into student loan refinancing.
- Led Earnest during its 2015 $75 million Series B financing.
- Co-founded SolidEnergy while studying at Harvard.
- Named a George F. Baker Scholar at Harvard Business School.
- Co-founded Rocketplace, which raised a $9 million seed round in 2022.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Research check: Four Cities Capital’s official website lists Beryl as a general partner. This is an observation date, not an appointment date.
- **2023-04** — The district court issued findings in his employment-benefits dispute with Navient; subsequent appellate dockets record appeals.
- **2023-04** — Appeared in the founder interview Riding the Startup Rocket with Louis Beryl.

## Links

- Website: https://fourcitiescapital.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisberyl/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/louisberyl
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lberyl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/louis.beryl

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/louis-beryl
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21