While working at fintech lending platform Stilt, Jessica Zhang and Alex Hegevall Clarke noticed how costly and time-consuming it was for the credit sector to gear their in-house tech stacks to comply with federal and state requirements. They opted to create something simpler.
“Businesses, whether venture-backed startups or even brick-and-mortar lenders, really struggle to launch products quickly and compliantly due to fragmented existing solutions and high compliance hurdles,” Zhang told Eltrys. Pier is creating ‘Stripe for Credit,’ which automates credit products for companies.”
How it works: Zhang claimed developers save months of work and millions of dollars by adding Pier’s APIs with a few lines. Pier’s system handles credit origination, underwriting, compliance, and servicing. 
Other startups have claimed to be “Stripe for credit,” such as Setpoint, which built loan transaction software. Stripe introduced corporate credit offerings six months ago.
Zhang said Pier, which began in 2023, is a dynamic process that changes during each loan’s existence, unlike payments and banking. Pier covers more of the lifecycle than other systems, such as underwriting or Know Your Customer.
Pier, a SaaS model, charges a monthly minimum and a use fee depending on loan volume, use case, and queries. Credit builders, purchase now, pay later for weddings and renewable energy, salary advance loans, merchant advances, and portfolio lines of credit are examples.
Zhang said the firm has more than a few years of runway but did not disclose user numbers or revenue growth.
The startup received $2.4 million in early investments. Investors include Y Combinator, Liquid 2 Ventures, ACME, Horizon Ventures, and angel investors Brian Neer of Morgan Stanley, Seth Weinstein (former CEO of Morgan Stanley Fund Services), and Divya Bhat of YC.
Zhang will use the funds for product development and team building.
