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Self Financial provides financial products designed to help individuals build or improve their credit scores and savings. The company offers a credit builder account and a secured Visa credit card, which report payment activity to all three major credit bureaus, enabling users to establish a positive credit history while simultaneously accumulating savings. Its platform simplifies the process of establishing financial credibility, particularly for those new to credit or seeking to repair past credit challenges.
The company was co-founded in 2015 by James Garvey and Anthony Dichiara. James Garvey's own experience navigating the complexities of credit informed the foundational insight for Self: a need for accessible, transparent tools to help people build financial health. This personal understanding of the challenges faced by many in accessing mainstream financial services became the impetus for creating a solution focused on empowerment.
Self Financial serves a broad demographic, including those new to credit, individuals with limited credit history, and anyone looking to improve their financial standing. The company's vision is to help millions gain greater access to the financial system, fostering economic opportunity by providing a clear path to build credit and savings. It aims to integrate more people into the American financial system by addressing critical credit access gaps.
Self has raised $150.5M across 8 funding rounds.
Key people at Self.
Self has raised $150.5M in total across 8 funding rounds.
Key people at Self.
Self has raised $150.5M in total across 8 funding rounds.
Self's investors include Casey Neistat, Hart Lambur, Jill Gunter, Julien Bouteloup, Sandeep Nailwal, Sreeram Kannan, Fireweed Ventures, Greenfield One, Spearhead, Startup Capital Ventures, Verda Ventures, Anthony Lee.
Self Financial, Inc. (Self.inc) is a fintech portfolio company that provides digital financial services, primarily secured and unsecured credit cards designed to help users build credit and savings while accessing cash. It targets underserved consumers, such as those with thin or poor credit histories, solving the problem of credit access by offering tools that report payments to all three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion), enabling users to improve scores through consistent, low-risk payments.[6][7] Backed by prominent investors like Meritech Capital (over $4B under management, focusing on late-stage tech with rapid revenue growth), Altos Ventures (consumer/enterprise scaling to billions in revenue), Conductive Ventures (expansion-stage enterprise/consumer), Silverton Partners (early-stage teams with execution strength), and Galvanize Ventures (seed-stage, community-first), Self has demonstrated strong growth momentum in the personal finance sector, positioning it as a leader in credit-building innovation.[1][6]
Self Financial was founded to address gaps in personal finance for everyday Americans struggling with credit building, emerging from the fintech boom post-2008 financial crisis when traditional banks underserved thin-credit populations. While specific founder names and exact founding year are not detailed in available sources, the company quickly gained traction by launching secured credit cards that function like installment loans, blending credit-building with savings accumulation—users make on-time payments that boost scores while earning towards card upgrades or cash access.[6][7] Pivotal early moments include attracting top-tier investors like Meritech (backers of Facebook, Snowflake) and Altos (decades of scaling expertise), signaling validated product-market fit and rapid adoption in a market hungry for inclusive fintech solutions.[1]
Self stands out in the crowded fintech space through these key strengths:
Self rides the inclusive fintech wave, capitalizing on trends like credit democratization amid rising economic inequality and post-pandemic demand for alternative credit tools—over 45 million Americans are credit-invisible, creating a massive underserved market.[6][7] Timing is ideal with regulatory tailwinds (e.g., CFPB focus on open banking/credit access) and market forces like high interest rates pushing consumers toward low-cost builders versus high-APR subprime cards. Self influences the ecosystem by normalizing secured products as gateways to mainstream finance, partnering with investors who amplify fintech exits (e.g., Meritech's track record with UiPath, Snowflake), and fostering competition that lowers barriers for startups in personal finance.[1][6]
Self is poised for expansion into broader personal finance (e.g., full banking, AI-driven advice) or IPO, leveraging its $4B+ investor network for hypergrowth amid fintech consolidation. Trends like embedded finance and AI credit scoring will accelerate its trajectory, potentially evolving it into a full-spectrum neobank influencing how millions access wealth-building tools. As a credit-builder pioneer, Self exemplifies fintech's power to unlock economic mobility, tying back to its core mission of empowering the underserved.
Self has raised $150.5M across 8 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised Seed in February 2026.
