This Black founder stayed true to his triple ‘Win’ strategy to build a $1 billion business

Wemimo Abbey’s journey to co-founding billion-dollar fintech company Esusu, the leading platform for renter financial health that supports low-to-moderate-income households in the U.S., begins in Lagos, Nigeria.

Abbey was raised by his mother and two sisters after his father passed away when he was just two years old. Then, in 2009, his mother’s staunch belief in the value of education brought him to the “magical place called America” for college, from his 80-degree hometown to 22-degree Minnesota.

But it was far from an easy transition.

In need of a loan to fund her son’s schooling, Abbey’s mother walked into one of the largest financial institutions in the U.S. – and was turned away because she didn’t have a credit score. Not only was she forced to borrow money from a predatory lender at a 400 percent interest rate, but she also had to borrow from church members and pawn her husband’s wedding ring.

“No matter where you come from, the color of your skin and your financial identity shouldn’t determine where you end up in the wealthiest nation in the world – and dare I say anywhere in the world,” Abbey says.