Wemimo Abbey & Samir Goel, Esusu - Expanding access to credit using on-time rental payments

Jan 22, 2024

Wemimo Abbey and Samir Goel, co-CEOs of Esusu, discuss expanding financial access, their principled leadership, and lessons learned. They highlight the challenges of persuading credit bureaus to accept rental data and the power of collective resources. The speakers express gratitude for their work and reflect on the journey of building a company.

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Introduction

00:00 • 3min

The Foundation Story of SUSU and Solving Financial Identity Inequality

02:59 • 5min

Building a Product After Meeting at a Conference

08:28 • 2min

Convincing Credit Bureaus to Accept Rental Data

10:55 • 9min

SUSU: Pooling Resources and Journey of Fundraising

19:57 • 21min

Expressing Gratitude and Reflecting on the Journey of Building a Company

41:06 • 2min

Russell Matambo hosts Wemimo Abbey and Samir Goel, co-CEOs and co-founders of Esusu, a leading Fintech platform that reports on-time rental payments to credit bureaus so renters can build credit while building owners and property managers maximise their portfolio health. They discuss how Esusu is expanding financial access in the US, Esusu’s growing pains and lessons learnt along the way, Samir and Wemimo’s principled and purposeful leadership as Co-CEOs, and much more! About Wemimo and Samir: Wemimo Abbey and Samir Goel are co-CEOs and co-founders of Esusu. Esusu is the leading Fintech platform providing rent reporting, property management analytics, and rental assistance to unlock financial access and stability for renters and property owners in the US. In 2023 alone, Esusu unlocked $21.9 Billion in new credit activity for Esusu renters, by enabling 107,000 renters establish credit score for the first time while helping many more with existing credit scores increase theirs by at least 36 points. Most recently, Esusu was valued at $1 billion in their $130 million Series B round. Prior to Esusu, both Samir and Wemimo founded social enterprises and had successful corporate careers. Samir Co-Founded Transfernation, a nationally recognized non-profit that used technology to direct over 5 million pounds of excess food to nearly 2.5 million people in underserved communities across New York City. Wemimo on the other hand founded Clean Water for Everyone, a global social venture providing affordable access to clean water for 250,000+ people in six countries. He also founded a data analytics company gathering data on NGOs operating in Africa, which was acquired in 2014. Collectively Wemimo and Samir have been featured in over a dozen major business publications including but not limited to the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30, the 2022 Fortune 40 Under 40 and the 2023 TIME 100 lists. -- As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below: WFT LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Home: www.whartonfintech.org Russell's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/russell-matambo-cfa-a5900039/