Fintech Startup Juvo Raises $40 Million To Disrupt Telecom With Big Data

Big data is synonymous with massive firms like International Business Machines Corp. IBM or Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN crunching numbers to figure out the best way to crunch their competition. However, some firms are harnessing big data technology to bring financial inclusion to those who have been boxed out of the system.

Juvo, a fintech startup that creates credit identities for the financially excluded, announced today it closed a $40 million Series B round led by NEA and Wing Ventures. Ron Suber, former Prosper president and “mayor” of San Francisco fintech, also invested and serves as an advisor to the company.

Essentially, Juvo allows people who use prepaid phone cards to build credit and financial identity by integrating into the process by which they add minutes to their phone plans.

See Also: Fintech Startups On Track To Set Annual Financing Record

“We see an incredible opportunity to walk hundreds of millions of people along the path to financial services, starting with their everyday interactions with their mobile phones, ” Stephen Polsky, Juvo’s CEO, said in an interview with Benzinga.

Polsky said a large percentage of global phone users are on prepaid plans, and many add minutes to those plans only when they’re out or have funds available. Juvo’s technology allows these users to build a financial identity around these payments.

Juvo plans to use the funds it raised to expand its reach around the globe. It already counts 500 million subscribers in 25 countries.

Photo credit: Juvo