Fig Loans
A responsible alternative to payday lending with emergency credit that builds financial health instead of trapping it.
Fig Loans is a socially responsible alternative to predatory payday lending. Founded in 2015 by Wharton graduates John Li and Jeffrey Zhou in partnership with United Way of Greater Houston, Fig offers affordable emergency loans and credit-building products designed to align the company's success with the financial health of its borrowers. Our relationship goes back to Fig's early days: the company came through the Village Capital Financial Inclusion cohort that we funded, and we later backed it directly in a follow-on round.
Why we invested
The payday-lending trap is one of the clearest examples of a system that charges the most to those who can least afford it: APRs of 300–600%, structured so that a single emergency spirals into months or years of debt. Millions of working Americans face it not because they're irresponsible, but because it's the only emergency option the mainstream leaves them.
Fig was built to be the opposite. Designed with United Way and incorporating the CFPB's small-dollar lending remedies, Fig lends at dramatically lower APRs and reports every payment to all three credit bureaus so borrowers build credit history while they borrow, opening the door to cheaper capital over time. It's the same conviction behind our broader financial-inclusion work (SoLo Funds and CIM among them): that access to fair, dignified credit is a foundation of economic agency, and that lending done right can be both a real business and a genuine on-ramp out of the debt cycle.
What Fig does
Fair emergency loans — small-dollar installment loans at a fraction of payday-lender rates, with transparent terms and no hidden fees.
Credit building — payments reported to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, plus credit-builder products that help borrowers raise their scores and achieve stability.
Aligned incentives — as a Certified B Corporation (with a score more than double the median), Fig is legally committed to balancing profit with purpose, serving low- and moderate-income Americans across multiple states.
Why it matters to us
Fig proves that responsible lending isn't charity but it's a better business that treats borrowers as people to be strengthened rather than revenue to be extracted. By backing it, we help widen access to fair credit and give families a path to build financial health rather than lose it. That's one-pocket investing where it's needed most: at the moment a working household is one unexpected bill away from a debt trap.
Our role: Investor
Type: Mission-driven consumer fintech (Certified B Corp)
Focus: Affordable small-dollar installment loans and credit-building products for low- and moderate-income Americans
