Abbey Wemimo and Samir Goel started the financial technology platform Esusu several years ago to help individuals save money and build credit. The company just closed a $2.3 million seed round, bringing the total financing up to $4 million, according to Forbes.
Esusu is an app that enables users to pool and withdraw money for major transactions like a downpayment on a house, reporter Ruth Umoh explained in Forbes. “These purchases and the fulfillment of debt obligations are then reported to credit bureaus to help users establish or improve their credit profiles,” she wrote.
The app also works as a rental data reporting service. Although rental payments are the largest single monthly expenditure for American consumers — and act as a strong predictor of credit risk — less than 1% of them get reported to major credit bureaus, Umoh wrote.
“We’re trying to address the fact that millions of people have a thin credit score or no credit score at all, while the average debt is around $135,000,” Wemimo told the news outlet.
For this Plug In South LA Beat, our ongoing curation of must-read innovation and tech news, we’re getting to know Esusu’s co-founders and what the pandemic means for their future business plans:
Photo: Esusu co-founders Abbey Wemimo and Samir Goel. Credit: VickyG Creative