los-angeles-fintech
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Sunbit Bet That the Best Place to Approve a Loan Is the Dentist's Chair
The Los Angeles fintech approves about nine of ten shoppers for the purchases nobody plans for - car repairs, root canals, new glasses, the dog's surgery - and charges no fees of any kind. Here is how a rejected loan application became a billion-dollar company.
Charlie
Charlie was a Los Angeles-based digital banking platform built specifically for Americans aged 62 and older. Founded in late 2021 by Oscar Health co-founder Kevin Nazemi, it offered a fee-free FDIC-insured account through Sutton Bank with 3% earnings, early access to Social Security deposits, US-based human support, and FraudShield, a suite of fraud protections designed for the population that loses an estimated $28 billion a year to financial scams. After raising $23 million in 2023, Charlie wound down operations on January 21, 2026.
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.
LoanSnap
LoanSnap was a U.S. fintech that built what it called the world's first 'smart loan' technology - an AI engine that scanned a borrower's whole financial picture in seconds, not just their interest rate, to recommend home loans designed to cut overall debt and monthly costs. Founded in 2017 by serial entrepreneurs Karl Jacob and Allan Carroll, it raised roughly $100M from backers including Richard Branson's Virgin Group, Reid Hoffman, True Ventures, Baseline Ventures, and the Chainsmokers' Mantis VC. After a 2021 peak of nearly $500M in originations, rising rates and operational problems sent volume and headcount into steep decline, followed in 2023-2024 by lawsuits, fines, and an eviction from its headquarters.