Fintech banking innovator Cross River receives $28m growth equity funding

Fintech banking innovator Cross River Bank has bagged a $28m growth investment from investment firms Battery Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Ribbit Capital.

Battery led the round for Cross River, which it said would go towards expanding its technology and product-development teams, 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.

The community bank has pioneered fintech application across several sectors, including partnering with leading marketplace-lender platforms in the US, and 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 currently works with more than 15 online lenders including Affirm, Borrowers First, Marlette Funding, Rocket Loans and Upstart, and originated more than $2.4bn of aggregate loans last year.

The bank also offers next-generation global payment solutions such as MasterCard Send, to facilitate faster, more secure, and cheaper transfers to new payment providers.

Its payment solutions currently integrate with and are used by services including Google Wallet, Stripe and TransferWise, as well as fintech companies such as Coinbase, a leading provider of bitcoin and ethereum solutions.

Cross River chairman and CEO Gilles Gade said, “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.

“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.”

Battery general partner Scott Tobin 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 fintech companies.”

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