Access to credit remains one of the most glaring and unnecessary sources of inequality and opportunity gap. In the U.S. notably, the lack of federal regulation and outdated forms of credit worthiness appraisal leave the most fragile populations prey to predatory lenders. Pesto's innovation can be the lever that can help lift millions of people from systemic and unnecessary financial distress and James has the devotion and drive required to scale its impact.

While at Stanford, James became obsessed with this systemic issue, started visiting pawnshops across states, saw the brutality people were dealing with on a daily basis for services most take for granted, decided to start working at a pawnshop in LA during Covid to get a practical sense of the extent of the crisis, ended up setting his own online pawnshop, personally dealt with physical threats and not once considered dropping the ball. It takes a specific kind of founder to go after such a complex problem where the end cannot justify any means.

Beyond our goal to have GDP impact on Europe, Plural's mission is to back founders bold enough to tackle systemic risks and reduce the opportunity gap, James & Pesto were obvious candidates for us to lend our help & support.