TomoCredit has raised $10 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Kapor Capital and KB Investment Inc. (KBIC), a subsidiary of South Korea’s leading consumer bank.
TomoCredit is a Fintech that seeks to build a credit history for first-time borrowers. The company offers credit cards catering to students, working professionals, and immigrants looking to build a better financial future.
This most recent funding follows $7 million in seed funding, which brings the total funding to $17 million this year. The company said it also appointed Ash Gupta, former CRO at American Express, to its board of directors.
TomoCredit’s Advisory Board includes current and past executives from LendingClub, Mastercard, Chime, SoFi, and Venmo.
According to TomoCredit, 76% of GenZ and Millennials have not previously built up a credit history. This means it may be difficult to qualify for loans from traditional financial institutions. Such lending policies prevent 40 million people from accessing credit, including cars and homes.
TomoCredit aims to bring millions of individuals that lack a credit score into the financial system, allowing a diverse group of consumers the opportunity to better position themselves as qualified candidates for mortgages, auto loans, or other major life purchases. Powered by Finicity – a Mastercard company –and leveraging open banking technology, applicants permit TomoCredit to securely access their bank accounts to access financial data for underwriting purposes. Once approved, applicants receive the TomoCredit Mastercard, a no-fee credit card with 0% APR. The company reports that it has already pre-approved more than 300,000 customers and expects to issue a total of 500,000 cards by end of year.
Kristy Kim, co-founder of TomoCredit, commented:
“As a South Korean immigrant, I understood the true pain point when I came to the US and couldn’t get qualified for an auto loan. I knew there must be a solution so with my co-founder Dmitry, we built TomoCredit centered around helping consumers build credit faster. We believe we have the opportunity to not only foster a diverse and inclusive team but to break socioeconomic barriers and provide credit solutions to a much wider audience impacted by this issue.” Currently we have a 50% female representation in our executive leadership team and we are proud of our inclusive culture here at Tomo.”
