Pier Bank raises $2.4 million to launch ‘Stripe for credit’

While working on fintech lending platform Stilt, Jessica Zhang and Alex Hegevall Clarke saw how expensive and time-consuming it was for the credit industry to equip their internal technology stacks to comply with strict federal and state regulations. So they decided to make something that would be easier.

“Enterprises, whether it’s venture-backed startups or even lenders, are really struggling to launch products quickly and compliantly because of the fragmentation of existing solutions and high compliance hurdles,” Zhang told TechCrunch. “Pier is building ‘Stripe for credit’, which is a way for companies to automate their own credit products.”

Here’s how it works: Developers add Pier’s APIs with a few lines of code, saving months of work and millions of dollars, Zhang said. Pier’s technology then manages the end-to-end credit lifecycle, including origination, underwriting, compliance and servicing.

Other companies have also claimed to be the ‘Stripe for credit’, for example Setpoint, a startup that developed software for faster loan transactions. Even Stripe itself launched new business credit products about six months ago.

But Pier, which launched in 2023, is more of an ongoing, dynamic process that evolves throughout the life cycle of each loan, unlike payments and banking, Zhang said. Other solutions out there address specific elements of the lifecycle, such as underwriting or Know Your Customer, while Pier provides a more comprehensive offering.

Pier is a SaaS model and charges a monthly fee that includes a monthly minimum plus a usage fee based on loan volume, use case and number of inquiries. Some of these use cases include credit builders, buy now pay later for weddings and clean energy, payday loans, merchant advances and portfolio lines of credit.

Zhang was mum on user numbers and revenue growth, but said the company has more than a few years of runway left.

The company recently secured $2.4 million in seed funding. Investors in the round include Y Combinator, Liquid 2 Ventures, ACME, Horizon Ventures and a group of angel investors, including Morgan Stanley’s Brian Neer. Seth Weinstein (former CEO of Morgan Stanley Fund Services) and YC partner Divya Bhat.

Zhang plans to invest the new capital in product development and building a team.