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Chime almost died in 2016, turned down by 100 VCs — today it IPO’d at $14.5B


In 2016 when Chime desperately needed cash, over 100 VCs said no. One seed VC, took a chance and saved the company, co-founder Ryan King recalls.

It was just way, way harder than I expected,” co-founder Ryan King and the company’s original CTO told TechCrunch (he’s currently a board member and a principal shareholder). He and co-founder and CEO Chris Britt still believed in the mission: an online bank experience that was free for users, making its money on interchange fees, aimed at the working class. King remembers reading a tech press article about how the founders of Robinhood pitched 50 to 75 investors, and only got a couple of term sheets, scoffing to himself, “I get 50 no’s in a week,” he said, smiling about it now.

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