Led · Equity · Sep 2021

YouTravel.Me matches travelers to curated small-group adventures using algorithms that pair users based on interests, values and past experiences. Matched travelers can chat or use voice, work with a travel expert and complete reservations; the company also offers a BeGuide product for travel experts to research and create itineraries. Since 2018 it has listed over 15,900 tours in 130 countries and attracted more than 10,000 travelers and 4,200 travel experts, becoming a top travel marketplace in Eastern Europe. Founded in Europe three years ago by Olga Bortnikova, Ivan Bortnikov and Ivan Mikheev, the company joined 500 Startups at the end of 2020 and doubled its revenue while still bootstrapped. After the pandemic hit international sales in 2020, the team built a community and educational product for travel experts and pivoted to focus on adventure travel as the market recovered. Planned growth includes U.S. expansion, hiring and attracting more travel experts, further product and technology development, and increasing gross merchandise value to $2.7 million per month by the end of 2021.

Participated · Series C · Sep 2020

Petal issues Visa credit cards (issued by WebBank) that let consumers who are new-to-credit qualify using their banking history rather than established credit scores. The company enables individuals to build credit histories and targets millions of U.S. consumers with limited or no traditional credit data. Petal has approved nearly 400,000 consumers for its credit cards to date, including more than 100,000 new cards approved in 2022. Led by CEO and co-founder Jason Rosen, the company plans to expand the Petal credit card program using the new capital. With the announced transactions Petal has raised more than $300M in equity capital and more than $680M in debt financing to date. The firm is based in New York, NY and Richmond, VA. Petal issues three Visa credit card products and a companion mobile app that use cash-flow underwriting (and traditional credit scores when available) to help underserved consumers build credit. Its cards are issued by WebBank while Petal manages servicing and monetizes via interchange, interest and card fees (including a $59 Rise membership). Demand has grown rapidly: Petal added 100,000 cardholders last year and reported 300,000 cardholders at its January 2022 Series D. At that time it said it was doing $20–30 million in annualized revenue, which rose to $80 million by year-end; management projects profitability sometime in 2024. The company says delinquency and default rates have not risen and have been improving this year. Petal conducted a restructuring in Q3 that reduced headcount by about 10% and currently has roughly 140 employees. Petal is spinning out its Prism Data unit (established in 2021, ~10 employees) to commercialize its cash-flow underwriting technology to other lenders and fintechs. Founded in 2016 and based in New York, Petal offers two Visa credit card products and a mobile app designed to help consumers build credit responsibly by underwriting on cash flow rather than traditional credit scores. Its proprietary underwriting, branded CashScoring, analyzes banking history—income, spending and savings—and was productized into Prism Data, a B2B platform launched in 2021 to provide transactional scoring and insights to other fintechs and financial institutions. Over the past year Petal tripled its user base and more than quadrupled revenue, growing from $11 million to nearly $50 million; it now reports nearly 300,000 cardholders and adds 10,000–20,000 new members per month. The company says members who joined with no prior credit history have reached an average credit score of 676. Petal has more than 160 employees (doubling over the last year) and plans to hire 100+ roles in 2022 while adding new card features and scaling to hundreds of thousands more cardmembers. Prism Data is described as a sister company and a strategic growth channel alongside Petal’s consumer card business. Petal is a New York, NY and Richmond, VA-based credit-card company that issues two Visa cards, Petal 1 and Petal 2. Petal 1 targets consumers with existing credit history; Petal 2 helps people build credit with a no-fee card, cash back and higher limits for those new to credit. The company uses a Cash Score—an alternative measure based on income, savings, and spending history—to evaluate creditworthiness and encourage responsible spending. Petal credit cards are issued by WebBank, Member FDIC. To date more than 100,000 people have been approved for the two cards. The company intends to use new financing to expand and support the Petal credit card program. Petal issues consumer credit cards and distinguishes itself by underwriting applicants based on prospective cash flow rather than traditional credit scores, enabling access for underbanked users. The company has grown by “tens of thousands” of customers since early 2019 and now employs about 100 people while operating remotely. Petal opened a second office in Richmond, Virginia and recently hired Kaustav Das as chief risk officer, bringing experience from Kabbage. Financially, Petal has raised equity rounds totaling roughly $100 million and in September secured a $300 million debt facility from Jeffries to finance its card product. In April the company closed a $55 million Series C to support expansion. Management’s near-term goal is to onboard hundreds of thousands of new customers over the next two years.

Led · Seed · Aug 2020

PitchMe is a London-based platform that replaces traditional CVs with profiles presenting candidates' soft and hard skills to employers. It uses a methodology designed by behavioural scientists and big-data algorithms that extract candidate information from more than 60 online sources, vet that information, and present it anonymously to employers. The marketplace matches candidates' soft and professional skills with the right job opportunities and is used by customers including Revolut, Typeform, and Intercom. PitchMe also provides candidates with educational opportunities for career development based on analysis of their skills and current job market needs. The startup aims to improve diversity and inclusion by eliminating bias from the candidate screening process. CEO Dina Bayasanova, who holds a PhD in Economics, said demand for the firm's profiling and matching services has grown 300%. Financially, the company recently raised $1.2 million in a seed funding round.