Quild #52: Pinwheel

This is the Quild daily, highlighting one early-stage startup that has statistically significant signals of becoming a unicorn.

Pinwheel is working to create a fairer financial system by unlocking API access to payroll systems. Pinwheel provides a platform allowing consumers to connect their payroll account to any app. By building pipes that connect these systems to banks, lenders, and other service providers, Pinwheel helps underserved consumers gain equitable access to today’s financial products when they need them the most.

Full-time Founders: Anish (CTO), Kurt (CEO). Curtis is also a co-founder but is now chairman

Signals:

1. Venture-backed experience

   1. Anish was a principal software engineer at Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA)

   2. Kurt was the general manager for Lux (raised from Venrock), which Volvo acquired

2. Top company alumni

   1. Anish worked as an engineer at CBS, Viacom, and Google for 4 years

   2. Kurt was a wealth manager for UBS for 1 year

3. Top university alumni

   1. Anish graduated from Rutgers University (BS)

   2. Kurt graduated from UCLA (BS)

4. Fast team growth

   1. Grew 2.6x YoY to 82 employees

   2. And hiring a lot more

5. Accelerated financing

   1. Seed announced in Jun 2020, series A in Jun 2021, series B in Jan 2022

6. Midas list investors

   1. GGV capital led series B

   2. Coatue led series A

Till tomorrow, Kenn