Amsterdam-based Backbase, a category-leading Engagement Banking Platform that empowers financial institutions to accelerate their digital transformation, announced on Thursday that it has raised €120M in a growth equity round of funding.
The company has now earned the status of a unicorn with a current valuation of €2.5B.
Bootstrapped until now, Backbase grew organically to over €200M in revenue. The investment came from Motive Partners, a fintech specialist private equity firm. Backbase is partnering with Motive Partners to further strengthen its claim on the Engagement Banking category.
The investor
Motive Partners is a specialist PE firm that focuses on growth equity and buyout investments in software and information services companies based in North America and Europe. The companies must serve five primary subsectors: Banking & Payments, Capital Markets, Data & Analytics, Investment Management, and Insurance.
Motive Partners brings differentiated expertise, connectivity and capabilities to create long-term value in financial technology companies. The firm fully supports Backbase in remaining an independent force and driving the Engagement Banking strategy by continuing to focus on customer-centric innovation.
Neil Cochrane, Partner at Motive Partners, says, “Backbase continues to lead an innovative category underpinning the banking sector, and we believe that together we have a unique growth opportunity to build upon Backbase’s strong foundations. As Backbase continues its growth journey, we’re excited to leverage our team’s depth of expertise alongside Jouk and the team.”
Capital utilisation
Backbase says that the proceeds will help the company to double down on its vision for Engagement Banking and accelerate its mission of re-architecting banking around the customer.
Engagement Banking is a paradigm change in the banking industry. Rather than trying to remodel banking around old technology by patching together legacy systems, banks and credit unions use the power of a cloud-based engagement banking platform to build better customer experiences at all phases of the customer lifecycle.
From onboarding, to servicing, to lending, to expanding share of wallet, the funding supports the growth through product expansion and further growing Backbase’s sales and marketing operations, says the company.
Founder of Backbase, Jouk Pleiter, says, “Today is a major milestone for more than 2,000 Backbasers and 150 customers around the world, to celebrate the incredible progress we made. With this partnership, we’re even better equipped to drive our Engagement Banking vision to the next level. I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and the positive impact we can make. To all our customers, I personally want to restate our long-term commitment to being your independent, long-term partner in innovation. For us, it is still day one.”
“Backbase’s proven track record of entrepreneurship and organic growth will continue. Our formula is simple: focus on the needs of our customers and empower highly skilled teams to deliver. We’re changing a big industry, which is hard work. Having critical mass and market momentum allows us to stay laser-focused,” Pleiter added. “Together we’re making it happen.”
“Re-architect your bank around the customer”
Founded in 2003 by Jouk Pleiter and Gerbert Kaandorp (no longer with the company), Backbase is a fintech company that is on a mission to re-architect banking around the customer.
The company mentions in a statement, “Our white label Engagement Banking platform empowers banks and credit unions to rapidly digitise their customer-facing operations and create seamless journeys that meet and exceed the expectations of today’s digital-savvy customers. With Backbase, banks and credit unions can put their customers back in the heart of their business.”
With global headquarters in Amsterdam, Backbase has regional offices in Atlanta (Americas HQ), Boise, Mexico City, Toronto, London, Cardiff, Dubai, Kraków, Singapore, Sydney, and Tokyo.
The company has over 150 customers around the world, including Advanzia, Banco Caja Social, Banco de la Nacion Peru, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Berenberg, BNP Paribas, Citizens Bank, ENT, Greater Bank, HDFC, Judo Bank, KeyBank, National Bank of Bahrain, Navy Federal Credit Union, Natwest, Pictet & Cie, Raiffeisen, SchoolFirst Federal Credit Union, Standard Bank, Société Générale, TPBank, Washington State Employee Credit Union, and Wildfire Credit Union.
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