TomoCredit announced that it had raised $22 million in a Series B funding round, giving it a post-money valuation of $222 million.
It has also secured $100 million in debt financing and has raised $39 million in equity since its launch.
The newly acquired funds will be put to use by the corporation in the form of product line expansion, which may include the provision of mortgages and automobile loans.
Kristy Kim founded TomoCredit in 2019 to help international students get credit. Three and a half years later, the fintech no longer focuses just on immigrants but is now also eyeing domestic students and SMBs that want to “build credit fast”. They received 2.5 million applications over time.
TomoCredit provides users credit limits of up to $30,000. It earns revenue from merchant interchange fees, not consumers. It doesn’t require a credit check, a deposit, or an APR.
According to TechCrunch, the firm doesn’t use FICO scores to underwrite, unlike many other credit offerings. Tomo Score, a “proprietary” underwriting algorithm, identifies “high potential borrowers” without credit scores.
“Our customers are not in financial trouble…Once you identify them and give them a card, they spend a lot and don’t default. Our performance has been great and that gave us and our investors the confidence to scale.” Kim told TechCrunch.
Morgan Stanley’s Next Level Fund and Mastercard participated in the equity portion of the deal including GoldHouse, Asian Hustle Network, and Hyphen Capital, while Silicon Valley Bank provided the debt.
Alice Vilma co-manages Morgan Stanley’s Next Level Fund, which invests in early-stage innovation and tech-enabled enterprises with women or diverse founding teams, said that she was amazed by Kim’s ability to recognize a need as a young female immigrant and create a financial product.
“As a first-generation South Korean immigrant, I wanted to help immigrant communities to reach their American Dream faster with TomoCredit,” Kim told TechCrunch. “It has been wonderful to partner with minority-focused funds who truly understand Tomo’s mission.”
