Vancouver-based FinTech startup Grow Technologies, which develops software solutions in the loan management space, has been acquired by Alberta’s ATB Financial. The purchase price was not disclosed.
“With the Grow assets and team, we are strengthening that position by accelerating our digital experience for our customers.”
Through the acquisition, the majority of Grow’s team members, including founder and CEO Kevin Sandhu (who authors BetaKit’s yearly Canadian Tech Companies to Watch list), will transition to the ATB team. ATB said its customers will begin to use Grow’s digital services within the next few months. Customers will have access to Grow’s digital platform, which was designed to help financial institutions acquire new users and grow wallet share with existing users.
“The entire Grow team is excited about a new chapter ahead of us as we look to bring our FinTech solutions and expertise to ATB,” Sandhu told BetaKit.
Grow offers a range of cloud-based digital banking solutions spanning retail and business banking. Founded in 2014, the company has developed a variety of software solutions, including account opening and lending for SMEs and retail, a personalized financial health tool, and Finsnap, a bank account data aggregator. Grow also uses big data and machine learning algorithms to improve the performance of its platform, aiming to make the platform “smarter and better over time.”
The startup has partnered with a number of financial institutions in its five-year history, including First West Credit Union, Celero, National Bank of Canada, and Motusbank, the digital spin-off of Ontario’s Meridian Credit Union.
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“With the Grow assets and team, we are strengthening that position by accelerating our digital experience for our customers,” said Curtis Stange, president and CEO of ATB Financial. “This acquisition is part of our strategy of putting customers first while driving growth to support Alberta’s economy.”
ATB Financial has also recently been active in the FinTech space, in a September panel at Elevate’s Money Stage, Alexandra Nuth, the manager of ATB’s new digital offering called Brightside, talked with BetaKit’s associate editor Meagan Simpson about open banking and the need to embrace FinTech innovation in Canada.
“I think a lot of this would be better for consumers if banks stepped up in this space … disrupted themselves and said ‘what would it look like if we were doing the right thing for consumers?’” Nuth said in September.