Altro
AcquiredYC S20Los Angeles, US · Founded 2019 · 29 employees · 18 known investors
Altro provides a mobile card that offers users a small line of credit to pay for subscriptions they already have, allowing them to build credit histories without traditional lending products. The service targets people who have been unable to access credit through conventional banking channels.
Also known as Hatch Credit · Perch · Perch (Formerly Hatch Credit) · Perch Credit
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (S20)
Altro was founded in 2019 by Michael Broughton and Ayush Jain.
Investors · 18
Also in the syndicate · 10
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements- Undisclosed amountstrategic funding roundMar 2024Source ↗
Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.
The YC application· Summer 2020 batch
What they told YC
- Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.
- A tool to help college students build credit quickly at no cost.
- How long have each of you been working on this? How much of that has been full-time? Please explain.
- One founder began exploring student financial problems as a freshman and started working with co-founder Ayush during their sophomore year, about 9 months together. Both were full-time students but moved to working full-time on the venture in the past 3 months after seeing rapid growth.
- What is your company going to make? Please describe your product and what it does or will do.
- The founders are building a mobile app that builds users' credit scores from non-traditional recurring payments such as rent, Netflix, and utilities. On-time payments are reported to the US credit bureaus and can be backdated up to two years, producing a score increase within two weeks rather than the 6-8 months typical of a credit card or loan.
Summarized from the founders' answers on their Y Combinator profile.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Altro, previously known as Perch, operated a consumer credit-building platform that let users establish and improve credit histories using recurring payments they were already making, such as rent and digital subscriptions. Supported subscription services included Netflix, Amazon Prime, Spotify, Hulu, Disney+, MAX, ESPN+, Coursera, Chegg, LinkedIn, SoundCloud, Peacock, Paramount+, Peloton, OpenAI and others. The product was positioned for people excluded from traditional finance and lending systems.
Alongside payment reporting, the company offered a financial literacy component: a catalog of more than 350 short educational audio clips covering topics including cryptocurrency, investing and trading, with user engagement factored into scoring. By 2024 Altro reported payment data to all three major credit bureaus — Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.
The company was co-founded by Michael Broughton, who served as CEO, and Ayush Jain. In a letter posted on its website, the founders announced that Altro had been acquired, closing a seven-year run that began when the two were students at the University of Southern California.
Founding story
The company traces its origin to two students at the University of Southern California — Michael Broughton and Ayush Jain — who asked whether subscription or rent payments could be used to build credit. Both dropped out to pursue the idea, signed early customers to report their rent payments, and built the product into a tri-bureau credit offering over a roughly seven-year period.
Business model
Altro offered a consumer-facing mobile application that recorded users' recurring payments — rent and digital subscriptions — and reported them to credit bureaus so those payments would contribute to users' credit files, supplemented by in-app financial education content.
Traction
The app reached the top 10 of the App Store after launching as Perch in 2020 and amassed a 200,000-person waitlist. By March 2024 it had expanded from 10 U.S. states to 47 states and reported to all three major credit bureaus. The company cited users reaching credit scores as high as 850.
Latest developments
Altro announced on its website that the company has been acquired, with founders Michael Broughton and Ayush Jain publishing a closing letter to customers, employees, partners and investors. Prior to that, in March 2024, the company raised $4 million and expanded availability to 47 states with tri-bureau reporting.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Altro positioned itself in the alternative-data credit-building segment of U.S. consumer fintech, using non-traditional recurring payments rather than conventional lending products to generate credit history.
Technology
A mobile application that connects users' recurring subscription and rent payments to credit reporting, with data furnished to Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, plus an in-app library of over 350 short educational audio clips on subjects such as cryptocurrency, investing and trading.
Go-to-market
Direct-to-consumer distribution through a mobile app, with early demand built via a waitlist that reached roughly 200,000 people; later funding rounds included backing and visibility from public figures in music and sports.
Consumers seeking to establish or improve credit scores, particularly individuals excluded from traditional finance and lending systems who make regular rent and subscription payments.
Geography
United States. The company was described as San Francisco-based in 2022 and Los Angeles-based in 2024. Service coverage grew from 10 states to 47 states by March 2024.
History
The app launched as Perch in 2020 and, according to the company, reached the top 10 in the App Store amid a surge in sign-ups and a waitlist of about 200,000 people. The company was later rebranded as Altro and was described in 2022 as San Francisco-based and in 2024 as Los Angeles-based. It raised an $18 million Series A in May 2022 led by Pendulum, bringing total funding to $21 million at that time, followed by a $4 million round announced in March 2024 that brought cumulative funding to $22 million. Availability expanded from 10 U.S. states to 47 states in 2024. The founders subsequently announced on the company website that Altro had been acquired.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Images
Timeline · 5
launches, deals, and filingsFounders Michael Broughton and Ayush Jain published a letter on the company website stating that Altro has been acquired and that the company's chapter is closing. The acquirer was not named.
Altro raised $4 million from backers including Tinashe, Quavo, Chris Paul and Marshawn Lynch, bringing total funding to $22 million.
$4M source ↗
Previously available in 10 states, Altro expanded to residents of 47 U.S. states and began reporting to Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.
Altro, formerly known as Perch, raised $18 million in Series A funding led by Pendulum with participation from Marcy Ventures, Citi Ventures, Black Capital Fund, Concrete Rose Fund and individual investors including Dick Parsons and Deborah Quazzo, bringing total funding to $21 million.
$18M source ↗
The application launched as Perch in 2020 and reached the top 10 in the App Store amid a surge in sign-ups.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Altroaltro.io · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Altro do?
- Altro ran a credit-building app that reported rent and subscription payments to the three major U.S. credit bureaus.
- Who founded Altro?
- Altro was founded by Michael Broughton, Ayush Jain in 2019.
- Who are Altro's investors?
- Altro's investors include Alumni Ventures, Basecamp Fund, Kapor Capital, Open Opportunity Fund, Ossian Capital, VentureSouq, Wonder Ventures, Y Combinator.
- Where is Altro headquartered?
- Altro is headquartered in Los Angeles, US.