Grasshopper, the “client-first” digital bank built for the business and innovation economy, recently announced steady growth and solid momentum for the year ending 2022.
The bank has reportedly “expanded its management team, relaunched last March with a new vision, and has built strong lines of business across several areas, including Small and Medium-sized Business (SMB) Banking, Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS), SBA lending, Commercial Real Estate Lending, Venture Banking and more.”
Mike Butler, CEO of Grasshopper, said:
“We experienced tremendous growth in 2022, as all our business lines excelled at providing value to our clients. Despite some economic headwinds, the market for our digital solutions continues to grow rapidly, and we will continue to work tirelessly to make sure that our clients have the exceptional digital banking experience they deserve and demand. To do that, we will continue to partner with industry-leading fintech companies that help extend our capabilities and develop business lines that directly meet the needs of small and mid-sized businesses.”
Grasshopper expanded significantly in 2022 “across many different aspects of the business, showcasing its many facets and capabilities.”
Here’s a summary of the company’s growth compared to previous years:
- Assets reached over $620 million, 108% growth year over year
- Deposits reached over $549 million, 124% growth year over year
- Loans reached over $450 million, 262% growth year over year,
- Revenues soar – Total revenues exceeded $17 million in 2022, which is 239% growth year over year
- Innovator Checking drives momentum – Grasshopper’s Innovator Business Checking product, designed for SMBs across the country, received over 6,200 digital applications and generated over $425 million in transaction volume since launching in the second quarter of 2022.
- Grasshopper BaaS gets its start – Through its partnerships with Treasury Prime and FIS, Grasshopper became the first financial institution to tap into FIS’ embedded finance services and served as the pilot bank in building out its BaaS and Corporate API Banking platform, bringing its first client live in April 2022 and adding a number of new, high-quality partners throughout the year.
- SBA lending goes from $0 to $74.3 million – In less than a year, Grasshopper received Preferred Lender Program (“PLP”) delegated authority status with the U.S. Small Business Administration, closing a total of 60 loans to date.
- Venture banking expands – Grasshopper increased its focus over the last year to work with venture capital and private equity funds and later stage companies and continues to align its Venture Banking team with its innovative fintech and BaaS programs.
- New tech for CRE & Yacht Lending – As a complement to its deposit offerings, over the past year, Grasshopper introduced new technologies to support its Commercial Real Estate (CRE) and Yacht Lending teams, allowing the bank to significantly decrease its turnaround times for underwriting and closing.
- Boost in hiring – Grasshopper also experienced tremendous hiring growth with a 31% increase in employees since the start of 2022.
- Fintech partnerships expansion – Grasshopper rebuilt its technology platform with a “fintech partnership” mindset, working with a number of leading-edge companies to provide a superior digital banking experience for its clients. New technology partnerships include Treasury Prime, FIS, Narmi, Alloy, Visa, Autobooks, Hummingbird and FiVerity.
- Fresh capital – Grasshopper announced the completion of a $30.4 million capital raise, bringing the digital commercial bank’s total funding to date to $160 million since 2019.
Grasshopper has already started 2023 strong “with two new strategic partnerships including Ramp, a leading corporate card and finance automation platform, and MANTL, a leading provider of account origination solutions.”
Grasshopper’s clients now “have access to Ramp’s platform on a referral basis, including its virtual and physical corporate cards, with more integration into Grasshopper’s digital banking experience expected in the coming weeks.”
Grasshopper also recently announced that they will be “leveraging MANTL’s Commercial Deposit Origination solution to strengthen its digital deposit origination platform for businesses and provide a superior customer experience.”
Additionally, through this partnership, the Bank will be collaborating with MANTL “to build a fully-automated business online loan origination solution from the ground up, which is currently in development and anticipated to launch in the second half of 2023.”
Mike Butler added:
“Grasshopper remains true to its mission of serving the business and innovation economy. We are strong believers in diversification and the expansion of fintech partnerships to bring unique solutions to a wider range of clients, which will continue to serve us well in 2023 and beyond.”