karat-financial
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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.