Credit card startup Petal has raised $13m in its Series A funding round led by Valar Ventures.
This round of funding saw several new investors to the company, including Third Prime Capital, RiverPark Ventures, and The Social Entrepreneurs’ Fund.
Also participating in the round were a group of return investors including Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, Afore Capital, Rosecliff Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital, New Ground Ventures, Abstract Ventures, Ride Ventures, Story Ventures, and The Gramercy Fund.
New York-based Petal is a credit card platform that utilises machine learning technology to assess an individual, rather than using credit scores and borrowing history. The company aims to help Americans, that are considered as sub-prime and high-risk, access financing.
The company’s cashflow underwriting solution analyses real-time financial records, and creates credit decisions based on credit reports, education, occupation data.
Petal Jason CEO and co-founder Gross said, “Something is terribly wrong when the industry decides an entire generation is, on average, sub-prime. Today’s credit system unfairly labels young Americans and other new-to-credit borrowers as ‘high-risk’, then punishes them with high interest rates and excessive fees. Petal breaks that cycle, using technology to give tens of millions of people the credit they deserve.”
Alongside the funding round, Petal has named Consumer Financial Protection Bureau senior counsel member Shiri Wolf, as its new general counsel.
This round of funding comes just months after the company raised a $3.6m Seed funding round. The company’s previous investment saw contributions from Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, Afore Capital, Rosecliff Ventures, Guild Capital, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Story Ventures and Silicon Badia. Capital was raised to support the products launch.
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