A North Carolina private equity firm has picked a Tampa financial tech startup for one of the first investments from a fund recently capped at $850 million.
Engage Fi, which develops and provides financial services for banks and credit unions, did not disclose the amount of money invested by Charlotte’s Falfurrias Capital Partners. Co-founder and CEO Jenn Addabbo declined to say how much of a stake in Engage Fi Falfurrias now owns, though the investment did result in the firm adding three directors to round out the company’s five-person board.
The company had vetted 10 equity companies for possible investment, Addabbo said, before settling on Falfurrias.
“They have a tremendous amount of knowledge in the financial institution services space, and technology enablement, and they want to pour gasoline on the fire,” Addabbo said.
Founded in 2014, Engage Fi has grown largely through word-of-mouth, without the help of outside funding. In 2018 it placed high on Inc.’s annual list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in America. Today it has a workforce of 40 and client base of more than 160, including community lenders like Grow Financial, MidFlorida Credit Union and GTE Financial.
“The market opportunity for us to continue to expand our services and our existing customer base and go after a new, larger market in community banks is significant,” Addabbo said. “The opportunity is massive.”
Falfurrias has raised $1.9 billion over five funds, including the oversubscribed $850 million fund behind the Engage Fi investment.
“Our partnership will help them create more capacity for future growth opportunities, including broadening their range of services, and customer targets, investing in technology, as well as possible strategic acquisitions,” Falfurrias’ Joe Price, one of Engage Fi’s new directors, said in a statement.
That the investment came from outside Florida is a sign of the continued emergence and national recognition of Tampa’s growing startup scene, Addabbo said.
“Just being based in Tampa means something different now,” she said. “It used to be, if you’re in Silicon Valley or Manhattan, there was a draw to it. I really feel like Tampa’s starting to get to that, which is really neat.”
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