For years, the cofounders juggled rising credit checks and full-time jobs with scaling Esusu: a fintech company that helps renters build credit by reporting on-time rent payments to credit bureaus. What kept them resilient through those difficult times was dedication to a business mission they were intimately familiar with.
Abbey was raised in what he calls the “slums” of Lagos, Nigeria, by his mother and two sisters. When his family uprooted to Minnesota, they didn’t have a credit score, which led them to fall victim to a predatory lending scheme. After immigrating from New Delhi, India, fellow cofounder and co-CEO Samir Goel watched his parents toil to “pull off miracles” and survive their newfound life in the U.S. without a credit identity or savings account.
“We built Esusu on this idea that no matter where you come from, what you look like, or your financial identity, it should never determine where you end up in life,” Goel says.
Eight years in, 32-year-old Goel says Esusu is just getting started in creating a one-stop-shop product; but long gone are the days of couch hopping and maxing out credit cards.
In 2014, the fintech cofounders first met at the Clinton Global Initiative Conference. Abbey was running his global social venture called Clean Water for Everyone, while Goel was the cofounder of non-profit Transfernation that distributed excess food from benefit events to underserved New York City communities for years after its 2013 launch.
They both had entrepreneurial chops and mission-driven mindsets, so they joined forces to help others build equitable credit by launching Esusu.
“We decided to take a swing and move out of our comfort zone and fall forward, because we didn’t want to ask ourselves, ‘What if?’” Abbey, now 33, explains. “Looking back, a lot has happened, but I’m immensely grateful that we decided to go down that journey.”
Then came an inflection point Abbey and Goel were up for promotions while Esusu was gaining traction with users, and VC firms wanted reassurance they were all all-in before investing. They ditched their full-time roles in 2018 and dedicated their careers to Esusu; at first, they were bootstrapping every marketing campaign, flight, and customer meeting. After burning through their savings, the entrepreneurs turned to credit cards, racking up $100,000 in debt each. They couch surfed with friends and pinched pennies wherever they could, going so far as to sleep in a chain restaurant when funds were low.
While on a drive to catch a flight to San Francisco to raise money from potential investors, they ran short on covering a hotel room for the night. So they hatched a plan to sleep in a Denny’s while figuring out what they could actually afford to do next. The next day, they were within walking distance of homes belonging to the richest people in the world.
“We begged the [Denny’s worker] to let us stay long enough to figure out a ride to the airport,” Goel says. “And then we were meeting an investor who lived down from Mark Zuckerberg.”
Esusu has since found its footing with investors and millions of customers, becoming one of the first Black-owned fintech startups to reach unicorn status.
The co-CEOs say these VCs have greater proximity to the issue Esusu is trying to solve—but their loyal clientele are at the center of its success.
“Even before investors took a bet on us, we could see from the actual people that we were serving that this product was valuable,” Goel explains, emphasizing their support was integral to Esusu’s success. “It was communities like the ones we came from—that was not something that could be replicated.”
The business’ 12 million customers and counting are all on a journey to strengthen their financial standing; in 2025 Esusu has helped 272,361 renters establish credit scores for the first time, a 34% year-over-year increase. Esusu customers also saw their credit scores rise by an average of 53 points last year, which the company says unlocks $77 billion in economic opportunity.
VC firms once snubbed Esusu’s service of building credit through on-time rent payments, but now Americans are pursuing healthier financial lives through the success of the business—including the founders themselves.
