Chime’s IPO Will Have Big, Big Winners and Serious Losers

Venture capitalists ignored fintech Chime when it launched and then drove its valuation to the sky, only to see it fall.

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When Chime CEO Chris Britt pitched his company to venture capitalists a decade ago, he got a lot of handshakes and little money. Venture capitalists, he has said, were too rich to understand why low- or no-fee bank accounts would appeal to people living paycheck to paycheck.

He said investors would question him: “What’s the problem? I don’t get charged fees. Morgan Stanley doesn’t charge me any fees. I don’t get this.” More than 200 firms said no, Britt said in a 2021 interview. Two little-known early-stage firms said yes, and now that the company is going public, they are among Chime’s biggest winners.