# James Savoldelli

> James Savoldelli is the founder and CEO of Pesto, a San Francisco fintech building an asset-backed secured credit card that lets people borrow against valuables like gold and watches without selling them or needing a credit score. A Stanford Human Biology grad and NYC native, he worked inside Los Angeles's largest pawnshop during the pandemic, watched customers cycle through loans that never built credit, and turned that observation into a Mastercard issued by Continental Bank. Pesto went through Y Combinator (W21) and raised $11M in Series A funding in 2023 from investors including Activant Capital and Plural.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Pesto
- **Organizations:** Pesto, Y Combinator (W21), Cybereason (former)
- **From:** New York City, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Human Biology, Stanford University
- **Known for:** Founder and CEO of Pesto, which launched what it calls the first asset-backed credit card, Raised a total of roughly $11.6M including an $11M Series A in 2023, Took Pesto through Y Combinator's Winter 2021 batch

## Career timeline

- **2019** — Summer Analyst in strategic finance at Cybereason, assisting with a $200M raise
- **2020** — Graduated Stanford; worked at Los Angeles's largest pawnshop during COVID-19 as an essential worker
- **2020** — Founded Pesto (initially explored as 'Pawnterra') with collaborators
- **2021** — Pesto goes through Y Combinator (Winter 2021 batch)
- **2023** — Launched the Pesto Mastercard and raised $11M Series A

## Achievements

- Founder and CEO of Pesto, which launched what it calls the first asset-backed credit card
- Raised a total of roughly $11.6M including an $11M Series A in 2023
- Took Pesto through Y Combinator's Winter 2021 batch
- Won first place in Intel ISEF Environmental Engineering as a high schooler for a styrofoam recycling method
- Received a global patent in 7th grade for a subway wind-to-electricity converter (Exploravision)
- Selected as a BioDesign Next Fellow at Stanford

## Latest updates

- **2023-05** — Pesto launched the Pesto Mastercard and announced an $11M Series A, focusing initial rollout on Atlanta and Los Angeles.

## Links

- Website: https://getpesto.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamessavoldelli/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/getpesto

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/james-savoldelli
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-12