Alkami is buying fintech Mantl for $400M | TechCrunch

Digital banking services provider Alkami Technology is acquiring Mantl, which has been described as “the Shopify of account opening,” for $400 million.

Mantl, founded in 2016 by Nathaniel Harley and Benjamin Conant, developed software to make it easier for people to open accounts digitally at community banks and credit unions. The end goal is that those institutions can increase deposits and ultimately, profits. 

The deal is expected to close by the end of March. Alkami told TechCrunch via email that the purchase of Mantl “will better allow financial institutions to onboard, engage and grow their account holder bases and attain a sustainable competitive edge.”

Mantl will operate as a distinct business unit directly reporting to current Mantl CEO Harley, who will directly report to Alkami chief executive officer Alex Shootman.

New York-based Mantl — also known as Fin Technologies — has raised more than $96 million in funding over its lifetime, according to PitchBook. Its last publicly announced fundraise was in January 2023 — an extension to its Series B round in which it was valued at $345 million post-money, according to PitchBook.

Investors include CapitalG — Alphabet’s independent growth fund, Flourish Ventures, D1 Capital Partners, BoxGroup, Point72 Ventures, Clocktower Technology Ventures, and OldSlip Group, among others. 

Mantl originally set out to build its own challenger bank. But the company realized there are 10,000 banks and credit unions in the U.S., and that 96% of them outsourced their technology to third-party legacy vendors such as Fiserv and Jack Henry, many of which have technology that is in some cases “decades old,” explained Harley in a 2021 interview with TechCrunch.

Such outdated technology keeps many financial institutions such as community banks and credit unions from competing online and limits the digital banking options available to consumers, the company said.

Mantl pivoted, based on the premise that most community banks and credit unions are critical to maintaining competition and equity in the United States’ financial system. 

Looks like that pivot paid off.