Esusu, fintech firm, now valued at $1bn after raising $130m funding

Esusu, a Nigerian fintech firm, has secured a $130 million Series B funding round to help build the racial wealth gap.

The company announced this on Thursday, breaking the $1 billion valuation barrier as one of the few startups with a black founder to reach unicorn status.

The funding round was led by Softbank, Vision Fund 2 with participation from Jones Feliciano Family Office, Lauder Zinterhofer Family Office, Schusterman Foundation, SoftBank Opportunity Fund, Related Companies, and Wilshire Lane Capital.

The firm said the fund would be used to scale its team and drive growth through product innovation while building the most comprehensive financial health platform in the market.

Abbey Wemimo, the founder of Esusu, said the company was established because of his financial exclusion experience while growing up in an immigrant home.

“We founded Esusu with the vision of using data to bridge the racial wealth gap and create more equitable financial opportunities for low-to-moderate-income households in this country,” Wemimo said.

“By establishing and improving credit scores, we are strengthening financial identities while empowering individuals, families, and communities to meet their long-term financial goals.”

So far, Esusu said it had raised over $144 million, thus joining the list of startups globally that have achieved the unicorn valuation.

The companies include U.S. scheduling app, Calendly ($3 billion); U.K.-based fintech Zepz ($5 billion) and digital insurance startup Marshmallow ($1.2 billion), African fintech firms — Flutterwave ($1 billion), Chipper Cash ($2 billion), and Interswitch ($1 billion).