Prime Highlights:
- Esusu raises $50 million in Series C funding, boosting its valuation to $1.2 billion and expanding its reach to millions of renters.
- The fintech platform allows rent payments to count toward credit scores, helping renters move closer to homeownership and financial stability.
Key Facts:
- Esusu now powers over 5 million rental units nationwide, serving about 12 million people and handling nearly $100 billion in annual lease volume.
- The company partners with major landlords and banks, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and plans to launch Esusu Pay in 2026 to let renters pay rent in installments.
Background:
Fintech startup Esusu, which enables renters to build credit scores through timely rent payments, has raised $50 million in a Series C funding round, bringing its valuation to $1.2 billion. The new capital pushes the company’s total funding above $200 million.
Esusu’s platform currently supports more than 5 million rental units nationwide, reaching roughly 12 million renters and processing nearly $100 billion in annual lease volume. By reporting on-time rent payments to credit bureaus, the company allows renters, many of whom have historically lacked credit histories, to improve their financial profiles and access mortgage opportunities.
Esusu co-founder and CEO Wemimo Abbey said that out of 110 million renters in the U.S., only a small portion of rent payments are reflected in credit reports. He added that the company’s goal is to make rent payments count toward building credit, helping renters move closer to homeownership and financial security.
Since its 2016 launch, Esusu has partnered with major landlords and banks, including Bell Partners, Blackstone, Kayne Anderson, and Nuveen Real Estate.
The new funding will support three key initiatives: expanding rent reporting as a service, launching Esusu Pay in 2026 to allow renters to pay rent in installments, and enhancing mortgage underwriting using verified rental data. Esusu recently acquired identity verification firm Celeri and works with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make rental data a core part of credit evaluation.
Founders Abbey and Samir Goel were inspired by their families’ financial struggles as immigrants. Abbey said that when they first came to the U.S., they had no credit and were denied loans, so they had to borrow money at very high interest rates. This experience inspired them to start Esusu to help more people access credit.
