Image: © Natee Meepian/Stock.adobe.com
Credit Sesame’s CEO said the company will reach unicorn status within the next few months and has announced plans for an IPO.
On 30 August, consumer credit health management platform Credit Sesame announced that it had closed $43m in its latest funding round.
The round was led by ATW Partners and there was also participation from existing investors including Menlo Ventures, Inventus Capital, Globespan Capital, IA Capital Group, Symantec, Capital One Ventures and Stanford University.
To date, Credit Sesame has raised a total of $110m. Upon announcing the latest funding round, the company said that this investment “paves the way to continue the company’s rapid growth and IPO plans”.
The company will also invest some of the funding in developing the artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities that its platform relies on. The company will expand its data science, engineering, product and marketing teams at both its San Francisco and Mountain View offices.
Credit Sesame did not disclose its valuation but the CEO said it is on track to reach unicorn status in the coming months.
The platform
Set up to deal with the $13.86tn of household debt in the US, Credit Sesame leverages aggregated data and advanced analytics to provide consumers with personalised, actionable insights to help them manage and improve their credit rating.
CEO Adrian Nazari said: “Credit Sesame was the first company to offer consumers free and monthly access to their credit picture including their score and credit details. However, we quickly realised that access was only the first step.
“Consumers need guidance to understand credit in order to effectively manage and improve it. Our newly developed PCM platform ushers in a new era of personal credit management with personalised analysis, machine learning and self-driving guidance to help consumers make the right decisions at the right time to better their credit and financial health.”
In a statement, the company said: “Credit Sesame has been operationally profitable since 2017. Its revenue and transactions have grown at an average of 90pc compounded annual growth rate over the past five years.
“Credit Sesame’s success has been driven by the value consumers derive from its platform. 61pc see their credit score improve within the first six months. More specifically, 27pc of Credit Sesame members see their credit score improve by over 10 points in their first month, and 20pc see their credit score improve more than 50 points in their first six months.”
Kerry Propper, co-founder and managing partner at ATW Partners, said: “Credit Sesame is revolutionising how consumers manage their credit.
“What was once a mystery and black box is now distilled by Credit Sesame’s PCM platform into easy to digest actionable insights that can effortlessly and meaningfully change a consumer’s credit and financial health. We’re thrilled to open the gates to a new age of personal credit management with the Credit Sesame team leading the space.”
