Greenwood, a fintech that provides banking services to Black and Latinx communities, acquired fellow affinity neobank Kinly for an undisclosed amount, Greenwood announced Tuesday.
The acquisition merges two neobanks that share a similar mission. Both fintechs launched in 2020 with the goal to help underserved communities build generational wealth.
“Kinly has always shared in our commitment to building a more transparent banking experience for Black Americans,” Greenwood Chair Ryan Glover, an Atlanta-based entrepreneur and founder of Bounce TV, said in a statement.
Glover said the deal represents a massive milestone for Greenwood, which he co-founded alongside civil rights leader Andrew Young, tech entrepreneur and investor Paul Judge and rapper and activist Michael “Killer Mike” Render.
“In partnership with the Kinly team, we plan to grow our footprint and expand our services to provide best-in-class experiences for Black and brown families and businesses,” Glover said.
Greenwood said the deal adds 300,000 Kinly community members to the Atlanta-based firm’s platform. Greenwood, which last month ended its waitlist for the first time since its launch three years ago, has 150,000 banking customers, Glover told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The fintech, however, claims it has a larger community of 1 million members that encompass the entertainment and career network it has built over the past year.
As part of the acquisition, Donald Hawkins, founder and CEO of Kinly, will join Greenwood’s executive management team as vice president. All Kinly accounts will transition to Greenwood and its banking partner, Coastal Community Bank, Greenwood said.
“Kinly’s mission of financial empowerment and wealth-building stems from lessons learned from Black America’s history,” Hawkins said in a statement. “The needs of our communities are many and I couldn’t be more excited to combine efforts with Greenwood to create lasting generational change.”
Kinly, formerly known as First Boulevard, has secured $20 million in investment since its launch.
Buying spree
The deal marks the third purchase for Greenwood in the past year, and the fourth since its launch in 2020.
Since its inception, the neobank has acquired several companies that have expanded the platform’s offerings beyond financial services to include entertainment and career development geared toward Black and Brown communities.
Last year, the neobank acquired networking hub and workspace The Gathering Spot, music festival A3C and professional networking platform Valence.
“Those partnerships create the largest combined fintech and community platform for Blacks and minorities, serving a community of over a million people,” Glover told Banking Dive last year.
Fresh off of closing a $45 million investment round led by Pendulum, Greenwood launched its Elevate membership subscription offering in December.
The $200-a-month plan combines the neobank’s digital banking platform with access to private clubs, entertainment and professional networking sites.
Greenwood, which has raised over $80 million, has secured funding from the venture arms of some of the nation’s largest banks, including Bank of America, Citi, PNC, Truist and Wells Fargo.
