Funding supports innovative technology companies that are taking community banks into the future.
Community Banks, defined by the Federal Reserve as having less than $10 billion in assets, totaled 4,001 in the U.S, as of December 31, 2022, according to the FDIC. Strategic investment fund BankTech Ventures invests in companies that are developing innovative technologies that enhance the ability of community banks to serve their customers.
The Fund just announced their investment commitment of $13.5 million to six fintech companies for the second half of 2023.
“Our mission at BankTech is to better connect fintechs and the community banking industry and we’ve built a team and ecosystem to facilitate this,” said Carey Ransom, Managing Director at BankTech Ventures. “Our banks can attest to the transformation opportunities and business growth we’ve all seen by hand-selecting some of the most impactful companies to work with community banks.”
BankTech’s six most recent investments reflect the range of new technologies taking community banks into the future:
Vero Technologies powers wholesale finance for banks to offer to inventory-based businesses ($2.5M),
Finosec improves financial institutions’ information technology governance, audit and exam readiness ($2M),
Micronotes turns digital channels into personalized revenue generators using big data, AI, and automation ($2M),
Equabli is a B2B platform for financial firms’ credit management, collections and recovery ($1M),
Revio provides unique insights and analysis into a bank’s current bank transactions and uncovers deposit and revenue opportunities in an immediately actionable way ($1M)
BillGo enables modern, real-time customer bill pay ($5M).
To help these fintech companies succeed, in addition to funding, the Utah-based BankTech created an ecosystem comprised of bankers, industry organizations, and tech founders who are working collaboratively to bring ongoing innovation to community banking.
“We are passionate about finding the best companies to support the future of community banking, so they can thrive and continue to enable and support their customers and communities,” says Ransom.
In 2021 BankTech was formed by general partners from The Venture Center, the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), Hovde Group and leading community banks including, Coastal and Sunwest Bank. In addition to drawing together key leaders from community banking, bank technology and fintech to launch the Fund, over 100 bank limited partners are now on board.
When BankTech tapped Carey Ransom as its first Managing Director, the firm valued his extensive 25-year career in software and venture capital. Ransom was an early senior executive at both Aspiration and Happy Money, the Chief Product & Innovation Officer at Experian, and most recently the co-founder and President of Operate, a venture studio investing in fintech entrepreneurs.
To date the Fund has invested over $40 million in companies that have technologies supporting community banks in the areas of revenue, deposit growth, security, compliance, data analysis and customer marketing. It touts that over 1,000 companies are in its pipeline, accelerating the growth of the 17 funded fintech portfolio companies.
