Mark Cuban-backed Otto raises $4.5M to turn car equity into credit –

Otto, a fintech startup which aims to allow people to tap into their vehicle’s equity for access to credit, has raised $4.5 million in a seed round of funding. After Utkov’s friend’s experience, they realized that people, for example, with unstable incomes or that are recent immigrants are extremely limited in options when needing money. Besides helping people build credit, the Otto team also will track a user’s financial health and tell them things like what they’re spending their money on, and to be prepared for certain expenses based on their previous charging history. For example, Mark Cuban is already helping Otto forge local partnerships with businesses doing adjacent services such as advancing financial literacy and credit repair that are already doing outreach in communities, Utkov noted. Tikhon Bernstam, managing partner at lead investor Uncommon Capital, said his firm was inspired by Otto’s vision of offering a new type of asset-backed loan for the underbanked.