FORT LEE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cross River Bank, an emerging financial-services innovator, today announced it has completed a $28 million growth-equity investment led by investment firm Battery Ventures, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and Ribbit Capital.
The funding will enable the already-profitable bank to more aggressively execute its business strategy, including expanding its technology and product-development teams; accelerating business-development efforts; continuing to invest in its compliance infrastructure; and launching new business lines to support the increasing number of companies using new technologies to change the way consumers and businesses borrow, save and transact globally. As part of the financing, Battery General Partner Scott Tobin will join the Cross River board of directors.
Cross River—a growing community bank—is a technology and business-model pioneer in several financial-technology sectors. The bank partners with leading marketplace-lender platforms in the U.S., allowing consumers and small businesses to obtain well-designed loans simply, rapidly and at better terms than they could obtain through traditional channels. Cross River is a strong advocate of the bank/partner model to make loans, and to ensure that the entire loan process, from origination to collection, is compliant with all laws and regulations. The bank currently works with more than 15 online lenders including Affirm, Borrowers First, Marlette Funding, Rocket Loans and Upstart, and the bank originated over $2.4 billion of aggregate loans in 2015.
The bank also offers several next-generation, global payment solutions, such as MasterCard Send™, that facilitate faster, more secure, and cheaper transfers to new payment providers. Cross River payment solutions currently integrate with and are used by numerous popular services including Google Wallet, Stripe and TransferWise, as well as financial-tech companies such as Coinbase, a leading provider of bitcoin and ethereum solutions. Cross River has designed a robust, technology-enabled compliance and operational model optimized for money service businesses (MSB), foreign remittance and third-party payment processing companies.
“Cross River has always used technology and innovative business strategies to carve out profitable niches and level the playing field against larger competitors where our commitment to compliance is a competitive differentiator,” said Gilles Gade, founder, CEO and chairman of Cross River. “This new funding will strengthen our capital base to help us execute our vision more rapidly and continue our track record of success. We are particularly excited to work with Battery, which has a history of investing in innovative financial-technology companies.”
Scott Tobin, general partner at Battery added, “The financial-services industry is undergoing revolutionary changes brought on by technology advancements. We believe Gilles and his team have built a truly disruptive business that combines the best of these technologies with stringent regulatory and compliance procedures in ways that have helped the bank become a partner of choice for both established and emerging fin-tech companies. We look forward to collaborating with Gilles and the Cross River team to support them on their journey to redefine modern financial services.”
Cross River Bank has developed its leadership position within the marketplace lending and payment industries through regular dialogue and engagement with federal and state regulators.
About Battery
Battery strives to invest in cutting-edge, category-defining businesses in markets including software, infrastructure, digital media and industrial technologies. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at stages ranging from seed to buyout and invests globally from offices in Boston, Silicon Valley and Israel. Follow the firm on Twitter @BatteryVentures, visit our website at www.battery.com and find a full list of Battery's portfolio companies here.
About Cross River Bank
Cross River is a New Jersey State Chartered FDIC-insured bank. Cross River has developed strategic partnerships with financial technology leaders to build fully compliant and integrated solutions for the marketplace lending and payment processing arenas. As disintermediation and financial independence increasingly fuel the new economy, Cross River is uniquely positioned to service both the established giants and the growing list of new entrants into these sectors. Corporate web site: www.crossriverbank.com.
