Kikoff, a credit building platform for millennials and Gen Z, is launching this week with $42.5 million of funding in the bag.
The startup recently closed a $30 million Series B round led by Portage Ventures, following up a Series A led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. High profile angels, including basketball superstar Stephen Curry, Wex CEO Melissa Smith and former CFO of the US Department of the Treasury, Teresa Ressel, have also made investments.
The Kikoff Credit Account is designed to help young Americans establish and build their credit. The product is free, with zero interest: customers apply for a $500 revolving line of credit which helps to build history, allowing purchases at Kikoff’s online store.
By using the account, within months, Kikoff customers can become eligible for better interest rates, competitive credit cards and home mortgages, among other things.
The firm was founded by former Capital One and OnDeck executive Cynthia Chen and ex-Facebook and Square man Christophe Chong.
Kikoff says it plans to build an entire financial ecosystem that will help users do things like build savings and get mortgages. The company will be using some of the newly raised funds to build out its technology and its team, across all function areas, to bring new products to market.
Says Chen: "There are many Americans who don't come from affluent families and have tons of student loan debt. For them and so many others, we wanted to create a better way to build good credit than existing offers in the market. We’re gratified to be able to introduce this foundational tool that can help put customers on a path to financial health.”