Valley Bank Launches Valley Foundry, Names Michael Rappaport to Lead

New capability creates a faster path from emerging technology and startup partnerships to practical application by leveraging Valley’s connectivity across the technology ecosystem

MORRISTOWN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Valley National Bank today announced the launch of Valley Foundry, a new technology and innovation capability designed to accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies, create a faster path from experimentation to execution, and deepen Valley’s connectivity with startups, fintechs, venture capital firms, and technology providers. The bank has appointed industry veteran, Michael Rappaport, to lead the Valley Foundry.

Technology is moving faster. Banks need to move with it.
Advances in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and data and analytics are reshaping financial services faster than many regulated institutions can evaluate and deploy them. Valley is closing that gap with the launch of Valley Foundry, a disciplined path to identify, test, and advance emerging technologies through internal and external partnerships.

“Valley has long operated as a technology-forward bank, investing in differentiated capabilities and fostering a deep ecosystem in this space to better serve our clients,” said Russ Barrett, Chief Operating Officer of Valley Bank. “Technology is changing at an extraordinary rate, and Valley is focused on staying on the front foot by actively engaging with the ideas, companies, and technologies driving that change. Valley Foundry gives us a more direct path to the people, businesses, and technologies shaping the future of financial services, while preserving the trust and risk management discipline our clients expect.”

Valley Foundry serves as the bank's main execution engine for startups and internal innovation, pairing external partners with dedicated Valley business and technology teams through a consistent evaluation and governance process.

Michael Rappaport to lead Valley Foundry
Rappaport will lead Valley Foundry’s internal and external engagement, oversee its intake and governance process, evaluate emerging technologies and partnership opportunities, and build a portfolio of initiatives aligned with Valley’s strategic priorities.

The initial focus will include artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data and analytics, process improvement, and operational efficiency, while maintaining flexibility to evaluate other emerging technologies as the technology landscape evolves.

Rappaport brings extensive experience in banking strategy, innovation, and transformation. Before joining Valley, he led Capco’s Banking & Payments practice for the New York metropolitan area and held innovation and emerging technology roles at HSBC, where he helped shape its early quantum computing strategy, and advance the exploration of other next-generation technologies. He will work across Valley’s lines of business and control functions to help develop new technology capabilities and create opportunities for Valley associates to build expertise in emerging technologies.

“The difference between an idea and innovation is execution,” said Rappaport. “Valley Foundry is designed to create a highway between Valley and the startup, fintech, and venture communities. We want founders and technology companies to know there is a team at Valley that can help them navigate the bank, identify the right business opportunity, test their technology and, when appropriate, evaluate opportunities for potential implementation. At the same time, we are giving our own teams a faster way to engage with the technologies that will shape the next generation of financial services.”

Valley’s technology ecosystem built to create connectivity
Valley Foundry builds on an ecosystem the bank has developed across technology-focused businesses and investment platforms, creating multiple points of connection with companies from early development through scale.

• At the center is Valley’s Tech & International Banking team, led by Ori Kaufman Gafter, which works directly with technology-driven companies, founders, and investors as businesses launch, scale, and expand into new markets. Those relationships give Valley an established network across the technology sector and firsthand insight into the challenges and opportunities facing technology companies at different stages of growth.
• Valley Ventures, the bank’s corporate venture capital arm, extends that connectivity into the venture ecosystem by investing in promising venture-backed companies and developing relationships early in their lifecycle. Those investments give Valley visibility into emerging technologies and the opportunity to maintain relationships with companies as they mature and scale.
• Through Partner Banking, Valley works with fintechs, technology platforms, and financial service innovators to deliver banking solutions through new digital channels. These relationships provide another direct connection to companies developing technologies that are changing how financial services are delivered.
• Valley’s internal AI team is advancing the bank’s ability to build and deploy practical AI solutions, supported by significant investment in AI and application engineering, cloud infrastructure, and FinOps. This growing capability is already improving efficiency, identifying revenue generation opportunities, enhancing fraud prevention, and enabling the organization to transition to a more balanced build-vs-buy stance on software development. A disciplined value-driven approach is helping Valley move promising use cases into production faster while scaling AI responsibly across the bank.

Together, these capabilities give Valley a differentiated view across the technology ecosystem from founders and early-stage companies, to venture investors, to scale technology platforms and the businesses using them.

For early-stage technology companies, Valley Foundry represents an invitation to engage with a bank that wants to move quickly, test new ideas, and build partnerships that can scale.

About Valley
As the principal subsidiary of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ: VLY), Valley National Bank is a regional financial institution with over $66 billion in assets. Founded in 1927, Valley has more than 220 branch locations and commercial offices nationwide and serves clients across New Jersey, New York, Florida, Alabama, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Arizona. Valley delivers a full range of consumer, commercial, and wealth management solutions designed to support everything from homeownership and business growth to long-term financial planning. Big enough to support complex financial needs and small enough to stay deeply connected, Valley is grounded in a relationship-led approach focused on understanding people first. That same relationship-led approach guides Valley’s commitment to community investment and responsible corporate citizenship. To learn more, visit www.valley.com or call the Valley Customer Care Center at 800-522-4100.

Forward Looking Statements
The foregoing contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are not historical facts and include expressions about management’s confidence and strategies and management’s expectations about Valley Foundry and its anticipated strategies and benefits, our business, new and existing programs and products, relationships, opportunities, and technology. These statements may be identified by forward-looking terminology such as “intend,” “should,” “expect,” “believe,” “view,” “opportunity,” “allow,” “continues,” “reflects,” “would,” “could,” “will” “typically,” “usually,” “anticipate,” “may,” “estimate,” “outlook,” “project” or similar statements or variations of such terms. Such forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties. Valley’s actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those risk factors disclosed in Valley’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025. We undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in our expectations, except as required by law. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.