Stellarfi, Credit-Building Tool, Announces $15m Series A To Make Credit Universally Accessible

StellarFi surpasses $2M ARR less than seven months after launch, raises second oversubscribed round to accelerate growth and serve the 150 million Americans who currently have low or no credit score

Austin, TX (March 28, 2023)—StellarFi, a financial technology company working to close the credit gap by helping members increase their credit scores and reach their financial goals, today announced $15M in Series A funding. The all-equity Series A round comes one year after StellarFi’s $7.2M seed round raised in March 2022, bringing the company’s total funding to $22M to date. The Series A round was led by Acrew Capital with participation from ATX Venture Partners, Trust Ventures, Dream Ventures, Interplay, Accomplice Ventures, Vera Equity, FJ Labs, Fiat Ventures, Gaingels, Kelmhurst, Oyster Funds, Hilltop Ventures, Permit Ventures, Kindergarten Ventures, J2 Capital, Socially Financed and Kapital Ventures. The funds will be used to grow the StellarFi team and secure partnerships with key financial institutions in order to further expand StellarFi’s marketplace credit offering. 

StellarFi was founded with the understanding that for most, having a healthy credit score is key to gaining financial independence. As a public benefit corporation, StellarFi’s human-centric mission is to help empower financially disadvantaged communities with support to build good credit and access all the advantages that accompany it. StellarFi manages members’ bills and recurring payments such as rent, subscriptions and utilities, ensuring they get paid on time and reporting them to help members increase their credit score without relying on traditional methods such as high-interest cards or expensive loans. StellarFi is the only credit-builder of its kind to report directly to the four main credit bureaus—Experian^®, Equifax^®, TransUnion^®, and Innovis^®. StellarFi does not require a credit check or deposits and charges no interest rates. The seamless registration allows members to choose a subscription plan starting at $4.99/month, with StellarFi’s “Prime” plan being the most popular at $9.99/month. StellarFi offers a 30-day free trial for prime members to receive a free credit report and begin improving their score. Using StellarFi’s bill pay system, members can see an average increase of 26 points in the first month and can further expedite their improvement by linking more monthly payments.

“With our strong customer conversion and exciting roadmap, this funding solidifies StellarFi’s longevity and potential for major impact in the financial industry,” said Lamine Zarrad, CEO and Founder of StellarFi. “Our personalized, goal–oriented platform offers tailored tools and resources to help members improve their financial standing, manage their monthly payments, and work towards achieving their financial goals all in one place. We have the potential to transform credit building, lending and loan servicing for lenders and consumers."

A reported 150 million Americans have credit below 680, preventing them from accessing credit lines and loans with low interest rates; twenty million of those Americans have fallen into this category since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The dismal economic climate proves StellarFi’s relevance in the current economy and the growing demand for credit improvement services. Towards the end of 2022, only months after its official launch, the company surpassed $2M annual recurring revenue (ARR), underlining its maturity despite being just a year old.  

“StellarFi is relentlessly focused on helping their members improve financial health, starting with better credit scores. Their product has demonstrably improved members’ credit ratings in less than two months, which ultimately enables access to better and lower cost financial products.” said John Gardner, Venture Partner at Acrew Capital. “We’ve been incredibly impressed with the speed the team has built and iterated on their core solution while growing and serving the user base.”

The company's goal is to continue expanding access to credit through its personalized member experience that enables members to set, track and achieve their financial goals with StellarFi’s credit reporting tools, one-on-one counseling with certified credit advisors and bill pay rewards programs. In the coming months, StellarFi plans to almost double its team size with new hires to expand its marketing, engineering and data teams. The company also plans to launch a mobile app later this year, and continue developing its platform as an all-in-one credit marketplace. StellarFi aims to be a place where members can pay bills to improve their credit scores, access lenders and personal loans and service those loans with on-time payment management.

For more information, please visit https://stellarfi.com/

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ABOUT STELLARFI

An Austin-based public benefit corporation founded in 2022, StellarFi is on a mission to provide credit-building tools to the masses so that anyone who pays bills can improve their credit standing and reach their financial goals. StellarFi reports everyday bill payments directly to the four main credit bureaus—Experian^®, Equifax^®, TransUnion^® and Innovis^®. Driven by his prior success in tackling complex financial problems, StellarFi founder and CEO Lamine Zarrad plans to expand financial equity nationwide and support millions in their journey toward financial security. Visit stellarfi.com for more information.