AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Award-winning financial technology and marketing services provider Kasasa® by BancVue® announced today that it has formed a strategic investment partnership with global private equity firm, The Riverside Company.
As part of the partnership, Riverside will continue the growth of Kasasa’s already profitable and very stable business. Kasasa’s leadership team and employee base will remain in place and its management team will remain a significant owner in the company. Riverside brings a seasoned advisory team to serve as valued thought partners to further Kasasa’s growth.
“As a private equity firm, our focus is to partner with companies that provide products and services that deliver compelling value – companies like Kasasa,” said Riverside Managing Partner Loren Schlachet. “With this partnership, our mission is to support Kasasa’s current and healthy growth to a position of even greater strength.”
The Riverside Company supports the development of high-growth companies like Kasasa throughout North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, evaluating thousands of opportunities every year and only investing in a select fraction. With more than 25 years in business, Riverside has completed more than 400 investments in industries such as technology, financial services, consumer branded products and more.
In addition to the partnership, Kasasa by BancVue is changing its brand name to Kasasa. This change is a reflection of the dramatically increasing popularity of the product that is bringing more consumers to the brand, but is not an indication of all products offered to its clients. Kasasa is dedicated to its entire client base and its comprehensive array of products and services, which it continues to develop and enhance.
“Both Riverside and Kasasa’s leadership team have been deeply involved in due diligence to ensure that this investment partnership was a good fit,” said Gabe Krajicek, CEO of Kasasa. “I personally conducted extensive research, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. We’ve been explicit about our goals and we’re confident this will accelerate our growth.”
Krajicek added, “When we first started, we were a small company with an audacious dream: to bring community financial institutions together with the goal of taking major market share away from the megabanks. This vision has been incredibly powerful. We’ve seen rapid growth of our clients and our brand, and now we’re partnering with a premier global private equity firm. I’m pleased to say that the marketplace just validated us in a big way.”
The company has a client base of over 700 community banks and credit unions, most of whom offer its Kasasa suite of checking and savings accounts to consumers across the country. Kasasa is also ranked among the world’s largest FinTech providers, being recently included on the 2015 FinTech Forward 100 list of leading financial technology providers in the world. Kasasa accounts feature nationwide ATM fee refunds, monthly cash rewards and require no minimum balance and no monthly service fees. They include Kasasa Cash®, Kasasa Cash Back®, Kasasa Tunes® and Kasasa Saver®.
About The Riverside Company
The Riverside Company is a global private equity firm focused on making control and non-control investments in growing businesses valued at up to $300 million. Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has invested in more than 410 transactions. The firm’s international portfolio includes more than 80 companies. For more information, please visit The Riverside Company.
About Kasasa
Kasasa® is the innovative leader in branded, community-powered banking products proven to drive profit and growth for community financial institutions. With unprecedented access to training, compliance, research, support resources and customized consulting, Kasasa’s flagship suite provides a research-based strategy leveraging the power of a branded relationship platform. Kasasa is making community financial institutions the topic of conversation for happy consumers nationwide. For more information, please visit www.kasasa.com, or visit them on Twitter @Kasasa, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
