Credit Sesame is a San Francisco–based financial wellness platform that leverages technology, AI and analytics to help consumers achieve financial health and stability. Led by CEO Adrian Nazari, the company offers tools to monitor and improve credit profiles and personal finances. In summer 2021 the company acquired Zingo, a fintech software services startup, to integrate rent reporting into its offerings. Using Zingo’s intelligent data platform, Credit Sesame will collect, verify, and report rental payments to the credit bureaus to help consumers establish or improve credit based on consistent rental payments. Later in 2021 the company plans to launch a feature that allows consumers to use cash to build and enhance their credit profile with no credit check. Credit Sesame completed a $51M growth funding round to support these product expansions. Credit Sesame provides a Personal Credit Management (PCM) platform that surfaces actionable insights to help consumers improve credit scores and overall financial health. Its RoboCredit algorithm builds on a TransUnion score and additional factors to recommend debt-rebalancing and other actions. Initial score checks are free; the company earns fees when users take referred products (refinances, new credit, balance transfers) and from premium services such as advanced identity-theft protection. Credit Sesame says it is already profitable and has grown revenues roughly 90% each year for the last five years. The company plans to use new funding to further develop its AI algorithms and expand the business, delaying major M&A until after an expected IPO. CEO and founder Adrian Nazari positions the product as differentiated from competitors by focusing specifically on credit management rather than broader personal financial management. Credit Sesame provides a mobile and web robo-advisor platform that leverages consumer data, analytics and thousands of rules to simplify and automate management of consumer credit and loans. The product gives users free access to their credit profile, including credit score, credit report grades, credit monitoring, and interactive step-by-step tools with recommendations for better lending options. Launched in 2011 and led by founder and CEO Adrian Nazari, the company reports over 12 million members. The recent financing will be used to accelerate growth, drive member acquisition, hire over 100 new employees, and advance its analytics, robo-advisor and machine-learning technologies. Credit Sesame positions its core offering around financial wellness and automated credit-management insights. Credit Sesame provides online and mobile tools for consumers to monitor credit, protect against identity theft, and reduce debt through credit and loan management. It focuses on the liability side of personal finance—helping users consolidate or refinance debt and find lower-rate credit options—and competes with services like Credit Karma and ReadyForZero. The company reports $50 billion in active user loans under management (up from $20 billion in 2012) and over $2 billion in consumer loan originations by partner platforms. CEO Adrian Nazari says last year the company saw threefold revenue growth and sevenfold growth in its alternative lending vertical. Credit Sesame offers free products plus premium paid services, and plans to expand customer acquisition and its credit and loan management offerings. It is expanding its team (now over 50, expected to roughly double in 12 months) and its offices in San Francisco, and is preparing new products including an Apple Watch app, Siri integration, and a millennial-focused product. Credit Sesame provides a proprietary analytics engine that analyzes a consumer’s credit profile against thousands of available financial products to identify opportunities to save money and meet individual financial goals. The company offers a free service and a mobile app that centralizes credit and loan monitoring in one place. Its solutions were developed by Stanford University scientists and the analytics tools are patent-pending. Founded in 2010 by CEO Adrian Nazari, the company has been expanding product capabilities and reach. In November 2012 Credit Sesame raised $12M in new funding to support those efforts. The company intends to use the proceeds to expand the reach of its services, continue developing its analytics, and hire marketing and engineering staff.

Total raised

$171M

Funding rounds

9

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Jun 2021