Pesto
YC W21San Francisco, US · Founded 2020 · 8 employees · Hiring · 11 known investors
Pesto Mastercard offers affordable credit for people with poor or limited credit history, positioning itself as an alternative to high-cost pawn loans. The product allows users to build credit history and improve credit scores through regular, on-time payments.
Also known as PingLend
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (W21)
Pesto was founded in 2020 by James Savoldelli.
Investors · 11
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Pesto is a San Francisco-based fintech company that introduced an asset-backed credit card, a secured card issued against a customer's pledged assets and powered by Mastercard. The company originally served cardholders directly, operating the full consumer credit journey itself.
Pesto has since extended that consumer offering into a business-to-business platform. It now enables other brands to launch and manage their own revolving, secured credit card programs using the same infrastructure Pesto built and runs for its own card, spanning underwriting, servicing, compliance, ledgering, mobile payments, and card operations. Prospective partners engage through a demo request on the company's site.
Business model
Pesto operates two connected models: a consumer-facing secured credit card program powered by Mastercard, and a platform business in which partner brands launch and operate their own revolving, secured credit card programs on Pesto's infrastructure, with Pesto handling card issuance, underwriting, servicing, compliance, ledgering, mobile payments and card operations.
Latest developments
Pesto has expanded from operating its own consumer card to offering its infrastructure as a platform on which other companies can launch and manage revolving, secured credit programs.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
A Y Combinator Winter 2021 fintech company operating in secured and asset-backed consumer credit, positioned as an alternative to pawn-based lending according to press coverage listed on its Y Combinator profile.
Pesto states it launched the first asset-backed credit card and that its platform is built on infrastructure it operates itself for a live card program, integrating underwriting, servicing, compliance, ledgering, mobile payments and card operations into one system so partners do not have to rebuild it.
Technology
An integrated credit infrastructure stack covering underwriting, servicing, compliance, ledgering, mobile payments and card operations, supporting revolving secured card programs issued on the Mastercard network.
Go-to-market
The consumer product was offered directly to cardholders. The platform is sold to brands through a "Get a Demo" request on the company website.
Consumers seeking a secured, asset-backed credit card, and brands that want to launch and manage their own revolving, secured credit card programs.
Geography
Headquartered in San Francisco, with roles also listed in Los Angeles.
History
Pesto participated in Y Combinator's Winter 2021 batch as a fintech company based in San Francisco, with Jared Friedman as primary partner; job listings associate the company with the name PingLend. It launched an asset-backed credit card and served consumers directly, then converted the operating systems it developed into a platform offered to partner brands seeking to launch their own secured credit programs.
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.
Competitors · 1
by search overlapCompanies competing with Pesto for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsPesto began offering the infrastructure behind its own card to brands, enabling them to launch and manage their own revolving, secured credit card programs.
Pesto is listed as a Winter 2021 Y Combinator company in fintech, based in San Francisco, with Jared Friedman as primary partner.
Pesto introduced what it describes as the first asset-backed credit card, powered by Mastercard, serving cardholders directly.
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
- Pestogetpesto.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Pesto do?
- Pesto is a fintech that launched an asset-backed secured Mastercard and now provides infrastructure for brands to issue secured credit cards.
- Who founded Pesto?
- Pesto was founded by James Savoldelli in 2020.
- Who are Pesto's investors?
- Pesto's investors include Activant Capital, Commerce Ventures, Core Venture Capital, TruStage Ventures, Y Combinator, Headline, NextView Ventures, NOMO Ventures and 3 more.
- Where is Pesto headquartered?
- Pesto is headquartered in San Francisco, US.