TruStage Ventures

If you’re a #fintech startup looking for advice on how to successfully pitch investors in today’s market, then check out this recent episode of The Fintech Combine Podcast with Mike Kraus and host Kristopher Kovacs. On this episode, you’ll learn about the trends #investors and #creditunions are watching and the role fintechs play in it, as well as valuable insights to take your startup to the next level: https://bit.ly/4eVLsfC

Congratulations to Brian Kaas, President, and Managing Director of TruStage Ventures, named in the Global Corporate Venturing 2024 Powerlist, a guide recognizing influential leaders in the corporate ventures industry. Brian and the TruStage Ventures team joint efforts and dedication have been pivotal in driving the success and ensuring high retention rates for our investors. “I believe in empowering the team. I want to make sure everyone appreciates how important they are to the overall success of our ventures programme. That means treating the team as my colleagues and my partners.” Brian Kaas, President and Managing Director of TruStage Ventures https://bit.ly/3VZbOWC #CVC #Influntialleaders #GCVPowerlist #Powerlist

Maxwell is a game-changer for lenders that goes beyond loan applications and document management to bring local lenders forward-looking and seamless technology for the entire #mortgage origination process. Check out CTO & Co-Founder Rutul Davé in this week’s Finopotamus article detailing the Mortgage Optimization Platform and how it supports #creditunion members. Learn more about how the leading Maxwell Platform can help credit unions improve margins and scale and enhance member experience here: https://lnkd.in/gWss7C2j

We are thrilled to share that our incredible leader, Brian Kaas, has been named in Global Corporate Venturing's 2024 Powerlist, a guide recognizing the most influential leaders in the #CVC industry! This well-deserved recognition sheds light on our President & Managing Director's exceptional leadership in fostering a close-knit team within our organization. By encouraging open dialogue, valuing diverse perspectives, and creating a supportive work environment, Brian has built a team that is not only successful but also deeply connected. His commitment to team cohesion and mutual respect sets a remarkable example for all of us to follow, inspiring us to work together harmoniously through shared goals. Congratulations, Brian, on this incredible achievement! Thank you for your never-ending guidance, wisdom and passion for what we do. Read more about Brian's secret to a successful CVC unit at his #GCVPowerlist workup 👉 https://lnkd.in/gB9RjfyJ

If you’re a #fintech wondering about the benefits of working with a CUSO and corporate VC (like us), then you’ll want to read Zack Miller’s latest Tearsheet article. It features commentary from Elizabeth Coston McCluskey, director of our Discovery Fund, Benjamin Maxim, chief operating officer of Reseda Group, and Arjun Sahgal, co-founder and CEO of Ascent Platform. In this article, you’ll learn about the strategic advantages of teaming up with CUSOs and CVCs (hint: relationships!) and how this has contributed to Ascent’s success, as well as how to effectively work with them. This article reinforces the value of taking an ecosystem approach to innovation – our co-investment with the Reseda Group in Ascent is one example of it! Check out the article here: https://lnkd.in/gieWwmeE

The Cooperative Credit Union Association's inaugural Fintech Connect event just wrapped up after bringing together nearly 150 industry leaders to learn about and talk all things #fintech. A few highlights from the event: 🏆 Goalsetter Founder & CEO Tanya Van Court won the 2024 Fintech Pitch Contest! Goalsetter is leading the conversation on how #financialinstitutions can empower and engage their members by tailoring next-generation solutions and comprehensive financial education for families, paving the way for a financially secure future for all. 🌟 Our own Sam Das spoke on a panel with Barb Lowman, CUDE, Nick Evens, and David Araujo about investing strategically in fintechs and CUSOs. 🚀 The group had the chance to watch live in-depth presentations in a Cyber Showcase from Ascent Platform, Debbie, Goalsetter, and other top fintechs. Congratulations to The Cooperative Credit Union Association on a job well done with such a wonderful and engaging event!

To all our Credit Union friends, find below and over the next couple of weeks Clutch's white paper on Omni Channel Onboarding. Every time I get the chance to visit a client, I feel like I have yet another epiphany: there is so much opportunity in the Credit Union space to outcompete traditional banks and FinTechs. The obvious answer from Credit Union leaders to almost any problem tends to be: let's find efficiency gains. In our view, however, the Credit Union Member onboarding experience is the foundation of your Credit Unions’ success. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨���𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.” 👉 Fix the clunky process - if you just take a look at your current onboarding experience, more likely than not will you conclude: this is kinda clunky. You're asking your prospects to fill out 43+ fields only to communicate "we will be in touch soon." 👉 Automate fraud detection - the main reason you "will be in touch soon" is because you don't have confidence in your system's ability to catch fraud in an automated way. You're getting fraudulent applications from strange IP addresses, remote physical addresses, names that don't match socials and many more. Manually reviewing every single application, your team will likely catch some of those. ❌ But what about synthetic fraud? Bots and fraud rings with stolen identities? Your teams aren't well equipped to catch these, neither do you want them to feel that burden! We need to automate this process. 👉 Offer realtime funding methods - imagine a world in which you automated fraud detection and ID verification for 80% of your applicants. You've now got the opportunity to delight your new Member with a realtime funding method, be it through ACH via Plaid, debit or credit card, #ApplePay or #GooglePay or any other form of payment your new generation of Members desires. 💪 Deepen the relationship out of the gates - the most tempting thing to do when buying software is to think in silos and find a point solution for XYZ. That's not enough anymore. The most progressive Credit Unions we work with take a holistic approach to onboarding, striving at deepening their Member relationships from the day they join: CD + Share account + debit card in wallet + auto enrolled into digital banking + auto loan refinanced + personal debt consolidated. So, let’s find a way to open the flood gates for delighted new Members and lean on technology to create that incredible experience WHILE at the same time successfully automating a lot of the work. 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞! Over the next months and if you permit, we'll be diving into questions we’ve asked ourselves and key insights we’ve gained in our journey to turn Credit Unions into FinTechs. If you have any questions or want to learn more, ping me directly, leave a comment or reach out to us at Clutch! Collectively we thrive and I look forward to learning from you!

Huge news last week on TechCrunch from Frich Money... 💸 The community-driven money app designed to foster financial transparency and education among Gen Z has successfully raised $2.8 million in seed funding! The round was led by Restive Ventures, with participation from TruStage, K20 Fund, and Spartan Innovations. 🚀 Frich targets the Gen Z market, providing a platform where users can ask questions anonymously and compare financial habits with peers - addressing the disconnect between portrayals on social media and the real financial struggles young people face. Congratulations to Aleksandra Medina, Katrin Kaurov, and the entire Frich team! 👏 Read more about their exciting future plans: https://lnkd.in/gD_pKXBz

#ICYMI, our May Fintech Forum was last week! This superstar panel fostered excellent conversation around how #creditunions can use fintech partnerships to drive financial inclusion in lending, lending to LMI members in a high rate environment, and misperceptions around financial inclusion and profitability. During the discussion, they also explored the potential impact of AI on financial inclusion in lending, highlighting both current and future possibilities and mitigating risks and concerns. Check out the recording here 👉 https://lnkd.in/ggvssneW

Union Credit just topped the 2024 Best Places to Work in Financial Technology List! 🚀 Dave Buerger, CEO, says that at Union Credit they "believe that our people are at the heart of our mission to empower the community financial institution movement. Being recognized as the #1 company on the Best Places to Work in Financial Technology list reinforces our commitment to our people and the culture we’ve built.” If you know them, then this will be of no surprise. Congratulations to Dave, Barry Kirby and the entire Union Credit team! https://lnkd.in/gaKNAWqq