San Francisco-based Mos just announced a $40 million Series B to grow its platform that provides financial services to students
The round valued the startup at $400 million and was led by Tiger Global. Other investors included Sequoia, Khaled Helioui, Expa, Emerson Collective and Lux Capital, according to the announcement.
It was previously valued at $48 million after its Series A in early 2020, according to PitchBook.
Mos was founded in 2017 by Amira Yahyaoui, 37, who named the company after the fictional town of Mos Espa from Star Wars, according to its website. She's also from Tataouine, Tunisia — the real life inspiration for Luke Skywalker's fictional home.
The startup provides financial services that are tailored to students such as checking accounts, debit cards, peer-to-peer payments and access to financial aid advisors. It is partnered with Blue Ridge Bank of Virginia to provide all its the banking services, while the firm generates revenue from debit card transaction fees.
However, actual users aren't charged any fees.
"Our mission is to tear down all financial barriers to opportunity," Yahyaoui wrote in a blog post announcing the funding. "Since the beginning, Mos has been focused on making a better and brighter future accessible to all. That focus is what brought us to tackle the first biggest financial challenge in the lives of countless young adults across America and the world—paying for an education."
Yahyaoui was forced to leave Tunisia when she was 17 years old for publishing a blog that was critical of the government and then-President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, and she became a young leader in the Arab Spring uprising, according to background provided by the company and her Wikipedia page. She currently lives in the Bay Area and has also been a scout at Sequioa Capital since 2020, according to LinkedIn.
Having her own opportunities to get a higher education disrupted inspired Yahyaoui to start Mos in order to help other young people pursue college and navigate the process' financial complexities.
Mos employees 47 people, a number the company hopes to at least triple this year.
The Series B round will help the company hire, grow its user base and continue building out its product, the announcement said.
