Investment will support rapid growth of leading Card as a Service (CaaS) company, designing and powering customized credit card programs for top financial institutions, fintechs and consumer brands

MENLO PARK, CA / ACCESSWIRE / November 4, 2019 / Deserve, the venture-backed fintech company expanding and powering the real-time credit card economy, announced it has secured $50M in equity investment. The round of funding was led by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) with continued investment from existing backers Sallie Mae, Accel, Aspect Ventures, Pelion Venture Partners and Mission Holdings.

With this new funding, Deserve will focus on further developing its CaaS offering, hiring engineers and data scientists to build out the platform's infrastructure, tools, APIs and machine learning capabilities, as well as expanding the fintech's B2B sales and marketing division.

'Deserve empowers organizations of all kinds - from major financial institutions to consumer brands to universities - to offer customized branded credit cards with tailored rewards for their customers that in turn incentivize loyalty or other user behaviors,' said Kalpesh Kapadia, CEO and Co-founder of Deserve. 'Our API-centric approach means the platform is highly scalable and can be deployed on an advanced timeframe. It allows us to offer a seamless digital onboarding process for cardholders - a simple process for businesses and consumers alike.'

'Goldman Sachs is supportive of Deserve's mission to expand access to credit, and to simplify the ability for organizations to offer their own bespoke credit card products,' said Ashwin Gupta, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs. 'We believe Deserve's card platform will bring meaningful savings and new opportunities to institutions across a range of verticals.'

FT Partners served as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Deserve.

Since its last raise in August of 2018, Deserve has grown its capabilities beyond direct-to-consumer offerings to provide CaaS capabilities for leading financial institutions, fintechs and brands. Partnering with clients such as Sallie Mae, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Honor Society, Deserve's proprietary platform enables customers to launch any type of credit card product, underwritten for their specific target audiences. Additionally, Deserve has a mobile financial management application featuring credit education, cashback rewards and incentive program offerings from Mastercard, Amazon and Priority Pass.

Deserve, a leading credit card provider in the education space, has recently been awarded the title of 'Best Credit Card for Students' in Money Magazine, Business Insider and NerdWallet, as well as being recognized as one of Fast Company's 'Most Innovative Companies' in 2019.

For more information about Deserve visit www.deserve.com.

About Deserve

Deserve uses machine learning and alternative data to provide millennials and Gen Z's fair access to credit products and the tools to achieve financial independence. Deserve partners with universities, associations, financial institutions, fintechs, and modern consumer brands to develop, rapidly deploy, and power white label and co-branded credit card programs for any audience. Deserve is a venture-backed fintech company whose investors include Goldman Sachs, Sallie Mae, Accel, Pelion Venture Partners, Aspect Ventures, Mission Holdings, Alumni Venture Group, Sparklabs Ventures, Fenway Summer Ventures and GDP Venture. Accounts are issued by Celtic Bank, a Utah Chartered Industrial Bank, Member FDIC. Deserve Edu card has been recognized as the best student credit card by Time/Money Magazine. The Company was also recently named one of Fast Company's 2019 Most Innovative Companies in the AI category, and one of American Banker's 50 Best Fintechs to Work For. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

About Goldman Sachs

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world.

Media Contact

Deserve
Meg MacDougal
meg@calibercorporate.com
888.550.6385 ext. 11

Media Contact

Goldman Sachs
Patrick Lenihan
Patrick.R.Lenihan@gs.com
212-357-0025

SOURCE: Deserve