How to Invest in Perch Credit—Jay-Z Funds His Latest Venture

From a musician to a venture capitalist, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter has his hands in all the honey pots. He took his Black-owned marijuana holding company, The Parent Company, public via a SPAC in January on the Toronto-based NEO Exchange. Now, another investment is catching investors' attention—Perch Credit.

Perch Credit is on a mission and Jay-Z is involved. Can retail investors give up their own capital for it or will they have to wait their turn for a potential public offering? 

Perch is a fintech app that helps people build credit. The technology is specifically geared toward minorities like Black people and other people of color.

It can be tricky to build credit at all, let along work back up from a low point. Theoretically, credit scores are supposed to be unbiased—but systemic institutions have a way of incorporating the biases of those at the top. 

Historically, credit scores have contributed to the racial wealth gap, which puts minorities at a disadvantage. Just 21 percent of Black U.S. households have a FICO credit score above 700 compared to more than half of all white households. Why is this a problem? Because it's rooted in higher-interest debt, lower wages, and other inequities. Ultimately, a lower credit score limits opportunity. Perch is on a mission to combat the crisis through clever software. 

Perch Credit takes the unique approach of collecting all of an individual's recurring payments. This includes everything from Netflix to The New York Times. The app pairs up with major credit bureaus to report these payments, which helps to incrementally build credit. With a rise in popularity for subscription models, this tactic makes sense.

Based on its institutional investor profile, it seems like Perch has the lock and key. It'sbacked by some of the biggest names in the startup world, like:

• Y Combinator
• SoftBank
• Sequoia Capital

Not to mention individual capitalists, like Jay-Z of course.

The founding team has a hold on things, too. Co-founders Michael Broughton and Ayush Jain have brought Perch up to a marked level in less than two years. They've already acquired millions in funding, and Broughton even won the 2020 Thiel Fellowship for his idea.

The app is also pairing with Marcy Venture Projects to deliver financial and credit-geared content for users. 

Perch is still in its fledgling years. A by-the-book startup, I can see a SPAC or IPO for the company in the coming years, but I suspect it will take some time considering the company just got its seeds.

Perch won't be on Robinhood or any other trading platform until it goes public. It has only been a few months since the company announced its seed funding round, so this is an offering you have to be patient for. However, a Jay-Z investment is nothing to be shy about—and something like this could give Perch the noteworthiness it needs to take the next stride.