With a $130 million Series B announced this morning, credit building platform Esusu broke the billion-dollar valuation barrier, making it one of the few startups with a Black founder to reach unicorn status. In the last decade, less than 2% of the unicorns that have emerged in the U.S. have Black founders.

“There are millions of Americans who are considered credit invisible, which means they have no credit score or financial identity. [Esusu] can be a life changing opportunity for them. It can be the difference between being a subprime borrower and a prime borrower, which can result in hundreds of thousands of dollars saved in interest over their lifetime,” said cofounder Samir Goel, a first-generation Indian American.

Goel started the company along with Abbey Wemimo, a Nigerian immigrant who, like him, experienced financial exclusion. Growing up, neither of their families had savings or credit. This forced them to rely on payday lenders that charged exorbitant interest rates.

The financing, led by Softbank, reflects a more than ten-fold increase in Esusu's valuation from its previous funding round last July. Since its inception in 2018, the company's revenue has grown 600% year over year, according to Wemimo and Goel. The startup was named to the Forbes Fintech 50 list last year.

Each month, about 44 million households spend $1,100 on average in rent—often their largest monthly household expense and likely to grow as rents soar coast to coast. However, more than 90% of renters are not able to build up their credit score by paying rent on time, which denies them access to quality financial products, and limits their ability to qualify for a mortgage, the founders say.

Esusu’s rental data reporting service attempts to solve this problem by allowing users to report rent payments to credit bureaus for free as a way to boost their credit scores. Large property managers—hoping tenants are more likely to pay on time if their credit depends on it—pay $2 monthly per rental unit for the service, along with a $3,500 set up fee. It also lures new high-quality tenants, and helps keep existing ones who want to continue building their credit, Wemimo and Goel say.

The company now helps report rent payments for more than two million rental units across all 50 states in the U.S., up from 1 million units last year. It has partnered with some of the top property managers in the country, including Mercy Housing, WinnResidential, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Related Companies to extend rent reporting benefits to tenants living in affordable housing.

With the latest capital infusion, Esusu plans to triple its employee count by the end of the year and bolster its efforts around risk management related to users’ personal identifiable information on the platform. In November, the fintech announced it will work with government-backed mortgage company Freddie Mac to encourage those who have borrowed for multifamily properties to allow their tenants to report rental payments through Esusu’s platform.

As they gear up for future growth, Goel and Wemimo are concerned about evictions as pandemic moratoriums wind down, but they are hopeful that the rental community will stabilize and expect continued growth of their core business.

Though they couldn’t confirm timing, they’re expecting an IPO in the near future. “Just watch for us. We’re going to go public, and it’s going to be an exciting time for all of us,” said Goel.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mariaabreu/2022/01/27/credit-building-startup-esusu-reaches-unicorn-status-giving-boost-to-both-diverse-founders-and-renters/amp/

CC: Mynd44 Lalasticala

According to Forbes, only 2% of companies that achieved $1billion valuation are owned by black people in USA.

Founders of Nigerian Origin have 4 of those $1billion valuation unicorn companies.

$3B — Calendly owned by Tope Awotona

$1B — Cityblock co-founded by Dr. Toyin Ajayi

$1B —flutterwave founded by Olugbenga Agboola

$1B — Esusu co-founded by Abbey Wemino

Nigeria to the world!!

For anyone that need the link to official list of all Unicorn startups (I.e. > $1b) in the world, below is the link.

https://www.cbinsights.com/research-unicorn-companies

We need more this.

Big congratulations to the team.

Tech is the new oil.

Anytime I here blacks win it makes me happ. Like if you feel the same share f you don’t.


Hoping for free forex signals

Nice one ..

But we know the purpose of this thread to chest beat and abuse others

But after much much wetin sup for Yoruba land ..
when will his reflect to the reality and development in yorub land and cure for the ugly menace of ritualists and skull miners in yorubaland


Maybe Yoruba people should consider this diaspora humans as governors for their regions and states

Since 2019..

Nothing greAt has come out of Yoruba land to grace front page as development strides by their governors .. maybe Lagos state ..

Unlike the igbos their sounthern counterparts.. that their governors showcase development and works

My advice is . Since Yoruba in diasporas are doing great.. maybe yorub should start checking them for elective positions to help develop southwest

Congratulations to the them .. good things is great

I hope Foundational BAs won't say that this guy is taking over their jobs...

Odin13:
Nice one ..

But we know the purpose of this thread to chest beat and abuse others

But after much much wetin sup for Yoruba land ..
when will his reflect to the reality and development in yorub land and cure for the ugly menace of ritualists and skull miners in yorubaland


Maybe Yoruba people should consider this diaspora humans as governors for their regions and states

Since 2019..

Nothing greAt has come out of Yoruba land to grace front page as development strides by their governors .. maybe Lagos state ..

Unlike the igbos their sounthern counterparts.. that their governors showcase development and works

My advice is . Since Yoruba in diasporas are doing great.. maybe yorub should start checking them for elective positions to help develop southwest

Congratulations to the them .. good things is great

Shame on you!

You were talking about chestbeating without actually seeing a chestbeater yet, then you went to insult a whole tribe because of some unscrupulous elements who would do anything for money, as if they're only restricted to the Southwest.


Nigeria has a big problem with money and it ravages every part of the country. But you shouldn't bring this to a thread that's supposed to celebrate high achievers like those young men.

Not caring about where they come from, the young populace in Nigeria is indeed the only hope the country has. But the society is wary of folks like you!

[s]

Odin13:
Nice one ..

But we know the purpose of this thread to chest beat and abuse others

But after much much wetin sup for Yoruba land ..
when will his reflect to the reality and development in yorub land and cure for the ugly menace of ritualists and skull miners in yorubaland


Maybe Yoruba people should consider this diaspora humans as governors for their regions and states

Since 2019..

Nothing greAt has come out of Yoruba land to grace front page as development strides by their governors .. maybe Lagos state ..

Unlike the igbos their sounthern counterparts.. that their governors showcase development and works

My advice is . Since Yoruba in diasporas are doing great.. maybe yorub should start checking them for elective positions to help develop southwest

Congratulations to the them .. good things is great

[/s]Pain all over this OSU low lifer.

No one has shouted yoruba here except for the shattered life like you.

You write long epistle cos you can't bear the pain.

No yoruba should answer you to ake you serious cos their tribe is always superior to yours.

Incase you hate the news, if you are close to niger bridge, you can kindly jump into it or find the nearest transformer.

It is your parents that will suffer for it, not us here cos we don't know you ever exist.

This is so Inspiring

Yoruba Amaka.

Why always we Afonja

We are the real developers

The mpkuru mriri addicts are a curse to this Great nation

Congrats to him, mine is coming up next

I'm igbo, and I have to say the yoruba have a great start up game. These starts up make us proud.

Kudos.

What happened to interswitch ,irokotv , hops stop, hotelsng, 25cars, 4gene etc

Great effort. We need more black people all over the world to keep breaking the ceiling in all areas of human endeavors.

kettykin:
What happened to interswitch ,irokotv , hops stop, hotelsng, 25cars, 4gene etc

I have schooled you times without number and yet you chose to be misinformed.

A Unicorn company is a startup that achieved the $1b valuation and all the names you mention above never at any time have a $1b valuation.

Below is the official list of Unicorn startups. Just search for all the companies I listed up there and you’ll see them there.

If you see any of the companies you type here in the list, I will deactivate my Nairaland account.

https://www.cbinsights.com/research-unicorn-companies

kettykin:
What happened to interswitch ,irokotv , hops stop, hotelsng, 25cars, 4gene etc

Na paranoia dey worry u.

Odin13:
Nice one ..

But we know the purpose of this thread to chest beat and abuse others

But after much much wetin sup for Yoruba land ..
when will his reflect to the reality and development in yorub land and cure for the ugly menace of ritualists and skull miners in yorubaland


Maybe Yoruba people should consider this diaspora humans as governors for their regions and states

Since 2019..

Nothing greAt has come out of Yoruba land to grace front page as development strides by their governors .. maybe Lagos state ..

Unlike the igbos their sounthern counterparts.. that their governors showcase development and works

My advice is . Since Yoruba in diasporas are doing great.. maybe yorub should start checking them for elective positions to help develop southwest

Congratulations to the them .. good things is great

Oponu...

Cc

Lalasticlala
Seun
Mynd44
OAM4J

Take to fp

Lalasticlala
Seun
Mynd44
OAM4J
Take to fp

Laslasticlala why doesn't stuff like this reach front page? Is it only news on rituals you guys are interested in pushing?

LegendHero:


Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mariaabreu/2022/01/27/credit-building-startup-esusu-reaches-unicorn-status-giving-boost-to-both-diverse-founders-and-renters/amp/

CC: Mynd44 Lalasticala

Great!

These Nigerian tech guys of Yoruba descent are taking no prisoners. Lol.

LegendHero:
According to Forbes, only 2% of companies that achieved $1billion valuation are owned by black people in USA.

Founders of Nigerian Origin have 4 of those $1billion valuation unicorn companies.

$3B — Calendly owned by Tope Awotona

$1B — Cityblock co-founded by Dr. Toyin Ajayi

$1B —flutterwave founded by Olugbenga Agboola

$1B — Esusu co-founded by Abbey Wemino

Nigeria to the world!!

For anyone that need the link to official list of all Unicorn startups (I.e. > $1b) in the world, below is the link.

https://www.cbinsights.com/research-unicorn-companies

Wow! Awesome...

4 Yoruba "tech" demons in
the Unicorn "ring of fire."

LegendHero:
According to Forbes, only 2% of companies that achieved $1billion valuation are owned by black people in USA.

Founders of Nigerian Origin have 4 of those $1billion valuation unicorn companies.

$3B — Calendly owned by Tope Awotona

$1B — Cityblock co-founded by Dr. Toyin Ajayi


$1B —flutterwave founded by Olugbenga Agboola

$1B — Esusu co-founded by Abbey Wemino

Nigeria to the world!!

For anyone that need the link to official list of all Unicorn startups (I.e. > $1b) in the world, below is the link.

https://www.cbinsights.com/research-unicorn-companies

Why is it only my tribe's men,pls include ppl that carry goods to Indonesia and get caught, or ppl that spent Nigeria money for foreign study without improving the country.

Lalasticlala
Mynd44
Seun
Oam4j

Take to fp