Have you fallen into debt and can’t get up? Fortunately, there’s a new fintech on the scene that has dedicated itself to helping Americans build credit and savings – and get out of debt.
SeedFi, launched in private beta in 2019, announced today that it has raised $15 million in new equity – along with $50 million in debt financing. The Series A round was led by Andreessen Horowitz. Flourish, Core Innovation Capital, and Quiet Capital also participated.
“Our goal is to address the root cause of the problem and leave our customers better off than we found them,” SeedFi CEO and co-founder Jim McGinley explained, “so we’ve structured all of our products to generate savings and build credit.”
SeedFi COO and co-founder Eric Burton explained the savings/debt dilemma for many Americans in a conversation with Crunchbase News. He noted that the lack of savings in the event of an emergency is often the pre-existing condition that can lead to serious debt problems, which in turn, make it more difficult to save. “The insight we’ve learned is to combine savings with credit to address the immediate need for credit in a way that will leave them better off and down the path to a better financial future,” Burton said.
The San Francisco, California-based company plans to put the new capital to use growing its customer base and – with its bank partners – bringing products to market across the country. SeedFi also plans to add to its product offerings, which currently include two solutions: Credit Builder and Borrow and Grow.
“SeedFi is creating a suite of plans to address borrowers at various financial points in their lives,” Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Angela Strange wrote on the company’s blog earlier today. “Customers can start by saving as little as $10 a paycheck through SeedFi’s Credit Builder Plan, which enables them to build credit while they save. For those in need of money, SeedFi’s Borrow and Grow Plan gives customers the cash they need now and sets them up to save for the future.”
Many financial commentators are boasting about the high savings rates many Americans are achieving due to limited spending opportunities during the COVID crisis. Our “K-shaped” economic recovery means that many people are surviving – or even thriving – financially during the pandemic. But there are a significant number of Americans for whom COVID-19 has meant major financial hardship – including loss of income and an increase in consumer debt. For those Americans, fintechs like SeedFi are increasingly part of the solution.