LA Startup HoneyBee Taps Into 'Rainy Day Loans' Market

Michaella Huck

Michaella Huck is an editorial intern at dot.LA. She's a senior at California State University, Northridge, where she majors in broadcast journalism and minors in Africana studies. Over the course of her college career, she has found a love for student media; she currently works as the editor at the Daily Sundial, a magazine highlighting the issues affecting students.

LA Startup HoneyBee Taps Into 'Rainy Day Loans' Market

HoneyBee co-founder and CEO Ennie Lim found herself taking out high-interest payday loans to pay rent after a financially devastating divorce. She eventually had to move back in with her parents in Montreal, Canada and get back on her feet, but the experience inspired her four-year-old fintech startup.

HoneyBee is a short-term credit program that works through employers, offering those that are strapped "rainy day loans." The company also offers credit and financial counseling to get folks back on track. It's part of a growing group of fintech startups that offer loans working through employers, including Salary Finance and TrueConnect.


Among its dozens of users are Alameda County Community Food Bank and skincare line Kate Somerville. Lim said she's also working with several Fortune 500 companies that she hopes to sign on soon.

Lim set her company to work through employers, who pay a fee for the service because it allowed her to provide services to those most in need without charging them. It also provided a perk to employers.

"A big part is employers finally seeing the importance of financial wellness," Lim said. "We're a turnkey solution and we are able to roll out our program within a single day to companies of all sizes. Repayments are debited directly from employees' bank account."

HoneyBee provides no-interest loans of up to $1,000 that can be paid back in biweekly installments. That's aimed at helping the millions of Americans who often work paycheck to paycheck and can be set back by a major expense such as a car breaking down or an unexpected visit to the emergency room.

Those issues ring true with Lim, who came to Canada as an immigrant and struggled with no credit history. It wasn't until after her marriage that she gained one through her husband's line of credit.

Research shows women overall have lower rates of financial literacy compared to men. A 2020 survey on financial literacy conducted by the TIAA Institute and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center housed at George Washington University School of Business found that financial literacy is notably lower among women, especially Black women and Latinas compared with their white peers

"I was never taught about personal finances growing up. Everything I learned, I had to teach myself and I think we are all trying to do that," Lim said.

About 86% of HoneyBee users are women of color and 68% have at least one dependent.

"A part of our mission is to offer an equitable and inclusive solution. A lot of DEI leaders are starting to look at this option is because we are essentially reducing the financial literacy gap in the workplace," Lim stated." They are finally starting to realize people come from different socio-economic backgrounds and financial education."

HoneyBee raised $5.7 million in a round led by ff Venture Capital. Lim will use the infusion of funds to grow the team and build up the brand.

"Our number one priority is currently marketing," she said. "We have not done any marketing since our launch. A lot of what we have done has been word of mouth."

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LA Tech ‘Moves’: LeaseLock, Visgenx, PlayVS and Pressed Juicery Gains New CEOs

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: LeaseLock, Visgenx, PlayVS and Pressed Juicery Gains New CEOs
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

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LeaseLock, a lease insurance and financial technology provider for the rental housing industry named Janine Steiner Jovanovic as chief executive officer. Prior to this role, Steiner Jovanovic served as the former EVP of Asset Optimization at RealPage.

Esports platform PlayVS hired EverFi co-founder and seasoned business leader Jon Chapman as the company’s chief executive officer.

Biotechnology company Visgenx appointed William Pedranti, J.D. as chief executive officer. Before joining, Mr. Pedranti was a partner with PENG Life Science Ventures.

Pressed Juicery, the leading cold-pressed juice and functional wellness brand welcomed Justin Nedelman as chief executive officer. His prior roles include chief real estate officer of FAT Brands Inc. and co-founder of Eureka! Restaurant Group.

Michael G. Vicari joined liquid biopsy company Nucleix as chief commercial officer. Vicari served as senior vice president of Sales at GRAIL, Inc.

Full-service performance marketing agency Allied Global Marketing promoted Erin Corbett to executive vice president of global partnership and marketing. Prior to joining Allied, Corbett's experience included senior marketing roles at Disney, Warner Bros. Studios, Harrah's Entertainment and Imagi Animation Studios.

Nuvve, a vehicle-to-grid technology company tapped student transportation and automotive sales and marketing executive David Bercik to lead the K-12 student transportation division.

This Week in ‘Raises’: Curri Scoops Up $42M, Mosaic Scores $26M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local logistics platform raised fresh funding to put toward product development, infrastructure and sales and marketing initiatives, while a San Diego-based fintech company closed its Series C funding round to expand its investment in AI which will empower high-growth SMB and mid-market finance leaders.

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Venture Capital

Curri, a Ventura-based logistics platform, raised a $42 million Series B funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners.

San Diego-based financial platform Mosaic raised a $26 million Series C funding round led by OMERS Ventures.

AHARA, a Los Angeles-based startup focused on providing personalized nutrition suggestions, raised a $10.25 million seed funding round led by Greycroft.

Per an SEC filing, San Diego-based developer of peptide therapeutics designed to assist in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and disorders selectIon raised $5 million in funding.

Miscellaneous

Los Angeles-based Sensydia, a company working on non-invasive cardiac diagnostics, said this morning that it has received $3 million in a NIH grant.

Raises is dot.LA’s weekly feature highlighting venture capital funding news across Southern California’s tech and startup ecosystem. Please send fundraising news to Decerry Donato (decerrydonato@dot.la).

'Esports Winter’ is a Myth, Local Gaming Execs Say

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

'Esports Winter’ is a Myth, Local Gaming Execs Say
Samson Amore

Last year, global venture capital investment in esports dropped by more than 40%. Investors have been rapidly selling off teams and franchises, and the industry has witnessed a consistent decline in ad spend. This has prompted many critics to coin the term “esports winter,” referring to a fall-off in the industry, an indication that VCs believe their investments didn’t achieve success as expected.

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