vault.co

About vault.co

Vault.co, initially launched as Student Loan Genius in 2013, was founded by Joshua Pierce, Tony Aguilar, and Emiliano Villarreal in Austin, Texas. The company established itself as an early entrant in the financial wellness market, focusing on providing enterprise-grade tools for employers to attract and retain talent.

The firm's platform is designed to help employers offer a range of educational benefits. These services include facilitating employer contributions to pay down employee student loans, managing contributions to 529 college savings plans, and providing tuition reimbursement programs. A key offering was Vault Match, a product that allows employers to contribute to an employee's 401(k) plan based on their student loan payments. The company's product suite consisted of three main offerings: Vault™ Advisor for loan analysis and guidance, Vault™ Pay for direct employer contributions to student debt, and Vault™ Match for retirement plan contributions linked to loan payments. This model positioned Vault as a business-to-business provider, serving over 3,000 employers and 401(k) recordkeepers, including notable clients like Voya Financial and Schwab Retirement Plan Services. The company's revenue was generated by providing these tools and services to corporate clients, who in turn offered them as benefits to their employees.

Over its history, Vault.co raised a total of $17.5 million across five funding rounds, with its first seed round of $3 million occurring in 2016. A significant rebranding from Student Loan Genius to Vault occurred in October 2018 to reflect a sharpened focus on empowering financial freedom. In a strategic move in July 2024, Summer, a fellow student loan benefit provider, acquired certain assets of Vault in an all-cash transaction. This acquisition included Vault's intellectual property and select client contracts, with members of the core team transitioning to Summer. Following the acquisition, Vault's existing products were slated to be gradually phased out as their functionalities and client base are integrated into Summer's enhanced platform.