← Embedded Finance Index 2026

Growcredit

“Can a subscription-payment credit-builder become the embedded financial inclusion infrastructure layer for banks, fintechs, and employers via a white-label API?”

Founded2019
HQSanta Monica, California, USA
FoundersJoe Bayen
Total raised$112.3M+
Latest roundSeries A, 2023 (led by USAA)
IndustryFintech / Lending
The story

Founded in 2019 as a direct-to-consumer fintech offering a virtual Mastercard to help underbanked Americans build credit by paying for existing subscriptions. Raised a large $100M debt facility in 2021 to scale lending. Pivoted significantly in 2023 toward a B2B2C 'Credit-Building-as-a-Service' model with the Grow API, enabling banks, fintechs, insurance carriers, and employers to white-label credit-building products. By 2024, the company had deepened institutional banking relationships (Wells Fargo for treasury, USAA as Series A lead) and was positioning itself as embedded financial inclusion infrastructure rather than a standalone consumer app.

Last 12 months
2024-01
2024-01
Product timeline
2019
Launched Grow Credit, offering consumers a virtual Mastercard credit line to pay for subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify, etc.) and build credit scores, reporting monthly repayments to Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.· lending
2020
Raised $2M seed round led by Mucker Capital with Commerce Ventures; partnered with Marqeta for card issuance and Mastercard for the payment network.· card
2021
Secured $106.3M financing round ($100M debt from Arena Investors) to scale financial inclusion platform and offer subscription-based credit building to banks, apps, and employers.· lending
2023
Launched Grow API — a Credit-Building-as-a-Service platform with Grow-to-Go and Pay with Grow products, targeting banks, fintechs, insurance carriers, and employers as enterprise B2B partners.· pivot
2024
Expanded banking relationship with Wells Fargo for depository and treasury services; raised Series A led by USAA; partnered with Beem super app via Grow API integration.· banking
The stack
6 layers disclosed in Growcredit’s embedded-finance stack
Banking / BaaS
Sutton Bank
Card issuing
in the full report
Card network
in the full report
Lending
in the full report
Open banking
in the full report
Sponsor bank
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
8 more providers across 5 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.