TomoCredit raises $122m funding to expand its credit offerings to immigrant communities

By Edlyn Cardoza

TomoCredit, the female immigrant-founded credit card lending to over 40 million credit-invisible immigrants and international students with no credit history in the U.S, recently announced that it raised $122 million in equity and debt. The round has attracted a great set of strategic investors, including Morgan Stanley’s Next Level Fund, MasterCard, and debt from Silicon Valley Bank. The round was oversubscribed by major FinTech investors and culture funds, including GoldHouse, Asian Hustle network, and Hyphen Capital.

Kristy Kim, TomoCredit founder and CEO, states, “As a first-generation South Korean immigrant, I wanted to help immigrant communities to reach their American Dream faster with TomoCredit. It has been wonderful to partner with minority-focused funds who truly understand Tomo’s mission.”

TomoCredit’s proprietary underwriting algorithm (Tomo Score) has successfully identified high potential borrowers without a credit score and seen huge market demand for its first product— the TomoCredit card. The TomoCredit credit card requires no credit check, no deposit, no APR, and no feeds. Last year alone, the company grew 1000% in revenue.

“We are excited to be a part of TomoCredit’s journey as it works to democratize access to credit and build a more inclusive credit landscape,” says Alice Vilma, Co-Portfolio Manager of Morgan Stanley’s Next Level Fund that primarily invests in early-stage technology and technology-enabled companies with women or diverse members as part of the founding team.

With the new capital injection, TomoCredit is working on expanding its credit product offerings, including auto loans and mortgages, with its innovative underwriting solutions.

Kim states, “We decided to add more capital for two key reasons. First, we were seeing incredible organic demands in the past two years, and we wanted to hire top talent to keep up with that organic growth. Secondly, we want to take full advantage of the newest consumer trends of avoiding high APR products. TomoCredit charges 0% APR with no fees. In recent months, many people who have 15 – 25% higher APR cards are ditching those products and flocking over to TomoCredit.”

TomoCredit also recently welcomed seasoned credit experts as TomoCredit board members. Members include Ash Gupta, ex-CRO at Amex and former President and Chief Risk Officer at American Express. Gupta retired from American Express in 2018 after four decades of continuous service. Also, Chaomei Chen, ex-CRO at Lending Club, joined TomoCredit as acting CRO to help Tomo expand its credit offerings.