Clasp Raises $20M Series B to Scale ROTC Model for Clinician Retention in Healthcare

• Clasp’s model helps healthcare employers commit to clinicians before graduation and ties student loan repayment to employee tenure, replacing transactional sign-on bonuses with retention-based incentives.
• Clasp addresses a system where nearly half of new clinicians leave within two years, reducing costly turnover and rehiring for healthcare employers.
• New federal loan caps taking effect in July 2026 are expected to increase financial pressure on clinicians, leaving many scrambling for $100,000+ of financing, and intensifying competition for talent.
• Clasp delivers retention rates 2.5x higher than traditional hiring models, with $130M+ in employer commitments across thousands of programs.
• A growing number of healthcare employers are behind this movement, including Boston Children’s Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering, MyEyeDr., Northwestern Medicine, Novant Health, OhioHealth, VCA Animal Hospitals and more.

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Clasp, a company that helps healthcare employers build long-term talent pipelines by connecting with clinicians before graduation and tying student loan repayment to tenure, today announced a $20 million Series B led by Crosslink Capital and Digitalis Ventures, driven by demand for its ROTC model: Retention Over Turnover Costs.

Inspired by the military’s early commitment model, Clasp applies this ROTC structure to healthcare through Loan-Linked Hiring, where employers commit to clinicians before graduation and repay student loans over time in exchange for tenure. Instead of relying on large upfront bonuses, employers invest over time, resulting in more stable teams and retention rates that are significantly higher than traditional hiring models.

Clasp positions student loan repayment not as a perk, but as workforce infrastructure. Sign-on bonuses can fill roles quickly, but they are built to reward joining, not staying. When incentives expire, clinicians often leave, forcing health systems to rehire for the same roles and repeat the cycle.

“Healthcare pays people to join and then is surprised when they leave,” said Tess Michaels, Founder and CEO of Clasp. “If we want clinicians to stay, incentives must reward staying. When financial support grows over time instead of expiring after a short clawback window, behavior changes. Teams stabilize. Vacancy cycles decline.”

For many early-career clinicians, student loan payments rival housing as their largest monthly expense, shaping where they work and how long they stay. At the same time, healthcare systems spend billions of dollars each year on sign-on bonuses and contract labor to fill persistent gaps, yet nearly half of clinicians leave their first job within two years.

That mismatch is expected to intensify as new federal loan caps take effect in July 2026, increasing financial pressure on students and competition for talent. In response, Clasp enables employers to commit significant student loan repayment over time, in some cases exceeding $180,000, aligning financial support with tenure and influencing where clinicians choose to work and how long they stay.

Today, Clasp announced new customers including BAYADA, Bergen New Bridge, Confluent Health, Therapy Partners Group, UMass Memorial Health, and UNC Health Appalachian, joining Boston Children’s Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering, MyEyeDr., Northwestern Medicine, Novant Health, OhioHealth, and VCA Animal Hospitals. Across its network, employers have committed more than $130M in student loan repayment across thousands of programs nationwide.

“This is about more than solving a staffing challenge – it’s about reimagining how we support the next generation of healthcare heroes,” said Tristan Hall, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at OhioHealth. “We’re proud to lead the way in Ohio with a model that supports students financially, professionally, and emotionally – long before they ever walk across the graduation stage. With retention-driven loan repayment, we’re investing in meaningful workforce stability. Many of the students eligible for the program have already completed their clinical rotations at OhioHealth facilities, which helps ensure the organization retains and grows the local talent it helps train. When students feel supported, they’re more likely to stay, to lead and to give back,” added Hall. “This program strengthens the bond between OhioHealth and the communities we serve – starting from day one.”

“At Novant Health, we’re focused on building a healthier future for everyone – from the communities we serve to the team members who deliver care every day. Supporting students now is key to developing the workforce of tomorrow,” said Lauren King, VP Talent Strategy and Workforce Management at Novant Health. “Through our partnership with Clasp, we’re helping new nurse anesthetists repay a portion of their student loans, with the goal of expanding this benefit to other roles in the future. By easing financial burdens early, we’re fostering loyalty, engagement, and a strong foundation for long-term success.”

“Healthcare has been stuck in a cycle of hiring and rehiring,” says Gabby Contro, Partner at Crosslink Capital. “Clasp addresses the economic drivers behind that cycle, which represents tens of billions of dollars in wasted spend. By aligning financial support with tenure, the company is building infrastructure for a more stable clinical workforce.”

The round includes additional investment from Juvo, Strada Education, and prior investors, along with participation from operators including Frank Britt, former Chief Strategy Officer of Starbucks and former CEO of Penn Foster (the largest workforce development platform in the country for frontline workers), and Jason Nazar, who founded and sold Comparably (acquired by ZoomInfo) and Docstoc (acquired by Intuit) for over $200M.

The new capital will accelerate Clasp’s expansion across health systems nationwide, deepen university partnerships, and scale its infrastructure connecting employers, schools, students, and financial institutions.

Employers seeking to widen their clinical talent pool and incentivize clinician tenure of 3+ years can visit clasp.com/healthcare.

Students seeking structured loan repayment tied to long-term career pathways can visit clasp.com/students.

About Clasp

Clasp is a workforce infrastructure company that connects clinicians with healthcare employers and ties student loan repayment to tenure. Through its Loan-Linked Hiring model, Clasp helps health systems secure talent earlier and improve long-term retention. The company was founded by Tess Michaels in 2018 while she was completing her MBA at Harvard Business School. Raised in a family of physicians, she saw how staffing gaps strain care teams and how student debt shapes where clinicians work and how long they stay.