creator-banking
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The Bank Saw a Hobby. Creative Juice Saw a Business.
A YouTube channel can have payroll, inventory and a million viewers, yet still look like a hobby to a lender. Creative Juice built the financial desk for the business behind the camera - then learned that cash mattered as much as the account.
Karat Financial
Karat Financial is a Los Angeles-based fintech building banking, credit cards, and financial tools for the creator economy. Founded in 2019 by Eric Wei and Will Kim, Karat underwrites digital creators and influencers using their social metrics and online business performance rather than traditional credit signals, giving YouTubers, streamers, and other entrepreneurs access to credit, banking, payments, and AI-powered bookkeeping that legacy banks routinely deny them.
Eric Wei
Eric Wei is the cofounder and co-CEO of Karat Financial, the Los Angeles fintech building banking, credit, and tax tools for full-time content creators. A Harvard economics grad who passed through Blackstone, McKinsey, and a product role on Instagram Live, Wei left big tech to build the bank that creators - who often earn six and seven figures yet get rejected by traditional underwriters - couldn't get anywhere else. Karat's flagship Black Card approves applicants on income and audience metrics rather than FICO scores. The company has raised over $100 million from SignalFire, Union Square Ventures, GGV, Y Combinator, Visa, and a roster of top creators, and partners with Visa to issue cards.
Will Kim
Will Kim is the co-founder and co-CEO of Karat Financial, the West Hollywood fintech that treats YouTubers, streamers and TikTokers as the businesses they actually are. After watching top creators with great credit scores get rejected for ordinary credit cards because banks called their income 'risky,' Kim and co-founder Eric Wei built a credit card, then a bank, underwritten on social-media metrics instead of W-2s. Karat has issued more than $1.5 billion in credit and advances, counts Alexandra Botez, Ludwig and Nick DiGiovanni on its roster, and raised a $70M Series B in 2023 backed by Union Square Ventures, SignalFire, Will Smith's Dreamers VC, Biz Stone and Steve Chen.