FPV Ventures’ Co-founders Wesley Chan, founder of Google Analytics, and Pegah Ebrahimi, former COO of Morgan Stanley’s Technology Investment Banking
Establishing credit is a major challenge facing millions of Americans, both those in low-income jobs or those just entering the workforce, among others. Typically, individuals gain credit worthiness, step by step, building up a credit score with the major credit reporting agencies. Fintech startup Yendo presents an alternative that enables individuals to more easily establish credit by using their car and smart phone.
Jordan Miller, George Utkov, and Daniel Ashy co-founded this first-ever vehicle-secured credit card in 2021 and just announced the closing of its $24 million Series A round. FPV Ventures was the lead funder with participation from existing investors Human Capital Ventures based in the United Kingdom, and like early-stage venture firm Autotech Ventures has offices in California.
FPV Ventures brings great depth of support for the startup via its co-founders Wesley Chan and Pegah Ebrahimi. The former founded Google Analytics and Google Voice and Ebrahimi is the former COO of Morgan Stanley’s Technology Investment Banking and COO of Cisco’s multi-billion dollar Collaboration business.
Yendo enables consumers to gain credit in a matter of minutes, by tapping into the value of their vehicle. They can receive up to $10,000 in revolving credit that is at a fixed, affordable rate and agnostic of their credit score. The person’s credit limit is based on income, expenses and other factors, but the addition of the car’s value is the game changer. Yendo cites that 90% of its customers indicate building credit is a significant driver for applying for the new credit product.
“The current financial system is not set up to serve everyone. As a result, millions of Americans lack access to affordable lending options, leading many to rely on high-interest, non-bank financial products, which costs them billions of dollars annually,” said Miller, CEO. “We want to transform the way Americans interact with financial services by building a product that can expand access to affordable credit, regardless of consumers’ credit scores”.
The recent funding is timely, moving Yendo into its next stage of growth that requires access to more capital. The Texas-based startup will make key hires, enhance the product experience and help more people by expanding into more states.
As part of the deal, lead investor Wesley Chan will join the board. Chan lauds Miller’s background that fits well to this ambitious venture that will help many Americans and their families.
“Jordan is a brilliant product developer who has created a product that provides access to affordable credit to a population of consumers who have historically had terrible lending options, if any. This helps level the playing field for consumers and we’re thrilled to back this mission and team,” says Chan.
Overall, Yendo’s founders see their credit platform as providing equal opportunity to people who have historically been excluded from the traditional credit system. Yendo estimates that it is saving its customers over $85,000 in interest each day—that is increasing with its trajectory of 15% week-over-week customer growth since launching last year.
The fintech company’s early results spurred on the funding to accelerate expansion. The founders plan for the Yendo card to be the first of a suite of financial products directed toward Americans who have been underserved by the current financial system.
“We’re confident this funding will help expedite our growth so we can continue to scale our business and product to help more people,” says Miller.”
