ImpactAlpha, April 18 – Numerous financial tech companies are using alternative credit scoring metrics to drive financial inclusion and lower borrowing rates for consumers and small businesses. London-based startup Credit Kudos takes alternative underwriting a step further, by using non-standard metrics to report an individual’s creditworthiness to banks, lenders and other financial institutions.
Co-founder Freddy Kelly was inspired to launch Credit Kudos due to his own difficultly securing affordably-priced credit because of a thin credit file. The company received approval to operate as a credit reference agency by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority in late 2017. It is now looking to expand into Europe.
Ascension Ventures led Credit Kudos’ £2.2 million ($2.9 million) funding round via its Fair by Design social impact fund, whose mandate is to invest in companies remedying the “poverty premium” that poor people often pay to access basic goods and services. NFT Ventures and Entrepreneur First also backed the round, along with a number of angel investors.
