Charlotte, N.C. (May 25, 2021) – Charlotte has landed another fintech unicorn as Credit Karma announced today major plans to expand its operations into the city increasingly becoming known globally for its dominance in the fintech space.
This afternoon the west coast fintech unicorn announced a $13.25M investment and 600 new jobs in Charlotte. Minimum average wage for these newly committed positions exceeds $150,000 per role. Analysts estimate that over the next 12 years this expansion will provide a $2.6B economic impact to the region.
“When you look back at the last 4 years of company expansions, from LendingTree to AvidXchange to Better.com to Robinhood to name a few, and now to include Credit Karma in that list, it’s getting hard not to make the argument that Charlotte is the dominant future force of fintech nationwide,” said Tariq Bokhari, Founder of the Carolina Fintech Hub. “Our entire community has leaned in to grow the fintech scene, and that’s what has made Charlotte the owner of a finance workforce 150% bigger than the national average, a tech workforce 44% higher than the national average, the number 1 market for tech talent growth in the nation, home to over 60 fintech companies, and regularly in the news for announcing new fintech company expansions like Credit Karma today.”
For those unfamiliar with the term “unicorn”, this moniker is typically given to privately-owned companies that exceed a $1B valuation. These companies tend to be critical for a city’s economic development as they bring jobs, growth, and much more to the ecosystem in which they are located.
Charlotte continues to ascend higher on the global list of cities with the most fintech unicorns and is now second only to San Francisco in the United States. Today though, one of those San Francisco based unicorns is reaching the same conclusion that many of their peers are realizing—the future of fintech in the Carolinas is bright.
“Credit Karma has rapidly grown to over 100 million registered users and has made a mission of helping people make financial progress regardless of where they are in life,” Bokhari went on to say. “In many ways Charlotte was the perfect choice for the fintech company to make – as we are both rapidly growing and dedicated to creating upward mobility and equity of opportunity available to everyone. I can’t wait to see how the City of Charlotte and Credit Karma shape each other’s future for the benefit of all in the coming years.”
Contact:
Pasha Maher
Managing Director, CFH
pasha@carolinafintechhub.org
