Arizona Tribune - Grasshopper Marks Transformative Year with 24% Loan Growth, SBA Lending Breakthrough, and Proposed Strategic Acquisition

"Our milestones this year were nothing short of extraordinary, from a strategic acquisition and the addition of talented leaders to forging valuable partnerships and strengthening our award-winning services for the business and innovation economy. Every step we take is driven by our commitment to delivering dynamic, secure and transparent digital banking solutions that empower our clients. I couldn't be prouder of our team's dedication and collaboration, which have positioned us for even greater success in 2025," said Mike Butler, CEO and Chairman of Grasshopper Bank.

Key Growth Metrics

Grasshopper marked significant growth across business lines in 2024, including Small and Medium-Sized Business (SMB) Banking, Startup Banking, Embedded Finance, SBA Lending, Venture Banking and more. Below is a summary of the Bank's growth:

• Total assets reached $867.5 million, 19% growth year over year

• Total loans reached $643.9 million, 24% growth year over year

• Total deposits reached $1.3 billion, 13% growth year over year

  • Deposits held on the Bank's balance sheet reached $801.9 million, a 20% increase from the prior year

• Total revenue reached $32.1 million in 2024, which represents 23% growth year over year

• Welcomed over 6,000 new clients across Innovator and Accelerator Checking and Savings accounts on Grasshopper's digital business banking platform, generating over $57 million in new deposits and more than doubling the size of the SMB and Startup deposit portfolio

• Debuted the launch of its digital SBA loan application, accelerating the funding process by enabling faster documentation submission and verification, resulting in over 700 digital applications for an SBA 7(a) loan in the second half of the year

• With keen attention to evolving its innovative and risk-conscious Embedded Finance offerings, Grasshopper grew $133 million in Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) program deposits and processed over $18.76 billion in transaction volume

• Onboarded 66 new Fund & Sponsor Banking clients with over 50% of new deposits driven by Emerging Managers and 43% representing lending relationships, resulting in $147.3 million total Fund Banking commitments and 7 senior secured credit facilities in support of larger Sponsor Banking transactions

• Recognized for excellence in banking technology, Grasshopper secured three industry awards in 2024: Best Use of Tech in Business Banking at the Banking Tech Awards USA (for the second consecutive year), Best Risk Implementation & Program Vision at the IBSI Global Fintech Innovation Awards, and Innovation in Integration at the Narmi Innovation Awards

Expanding the Team

Grasshopper announced several new key hires across disciplines in 2024 to expand its footprint and uphold its dedication to providing comprehensive lending and depository solutions to companies of all stages. These included:

• Rob Burnett as Director of Startup Banking

• Nate Gruendemann as Product Manager

• Vince Magpayo as SMB/SBA Digital Marketing Specialist

• Vince Peterson as Vice President of Embedded Finance

• Gabrielle Piasio as Senior Vice President of Sponsor Finance

In addition, Grasshopper's Chris Mastrangelo was promoted to Chief Risk Officer, whose responsibilities expanded to include oversight of the Bank's Operations and Client Services teams.

Marking Strategic Partnerships

Grasshopper grew its extensive partnership network with the goal to advance and expand the reach of its services. In addition to Treasury Prime, Grasshopper's long-standing technology partner and API middleware provider, the Bank expanded its embedded finance capabilities by partnering with Increase, an enterprise-grade banking API provider, further strengthening its infrastructure and ability to scale financial solutions for fintechs and SMBs.

Recognized as a leading BaaS platform for SMBs and startups by the 2024 Banking Tech Awards USA, Grasshopper launched a variety of new programs while deepening collaboration with key BaaS partners. Building on this momentum, the Bank continues to push the boundaries of innovation, forging new partnerships that harness AI-driven technology to enhance credit analysis, due diligence and risk management. Through its partnership with Greenlite, Grasshopper continues to leverage its AI-powered due diligence suite to bolster risk decisioning proficiency for SMB and startup clients. Additionally, its collaboration with Enfi brings AI-driven credit assessment and risk analysis into its services. These strategic partnerships underscore Grasshopper's commitment to streamlining operations and delivering smarter, more tailored banking solutions that meet the evolving needs of SMB and startup clients.

Strategic Acquisition Will Extend Banking Services to 13 Million AAA Members

Once the transaction is approved and finalized, which is expected to occur in the first half of 2025, Grasshopper will be the exclusive bank powering white-labeled depository and certain lending offerings to ACG's more than 13 million AAA members and insureds in ACG's 14 state-territory. This acquisition marks a meaningful foray into consumer banking for Grasshopper, which will bring its time-tested products and award-winning digital banking solutions to new customers, delivering a modern, streamlined, and complete financial service experience.

To learn more about Grasshopper and additional key developments, please visit the Grasshopper website here.

About Grasshopper Bank
With total assets of approximately $867.5 million, Grasshopper Bank is a client-first digital bank serving the business and innovation economy. Grasshopper Bank replaces the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to banking with a suite of products and services tailored to specific industries and a passionate team of experts with deep expertise in their fields. Grasshopper Bank's banking solutions cover small businesses, startups, venture capital and private equity firms, fintech-focused Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and commercial API banking platforms, SBA lending, commercial real estate lending, and yacht lending. Headquartered in New York, New York, the bank is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and is an Equal Housing/Equal Opportunity Lender. For more information, visit Grasshopper Bank's website at www.grasshopper.bank or follow Grasshopper Bank on LinkedIn or X.

Media Contact

Heather Valle
[email protected]

SOURCE: Grasshopper

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

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