PRINCETON, N.J. and DALLAS, Nov. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Solutions by Text, provider of the text messaging platform for consumer financial services institutions, today announced raising $35 million in growth financing. Edison Partners led the transaction with participation from Stifel Venture Bank, a Division of Stifel Bank. The company is also announcing the appointment of payments industry leader David Baxter as Chief Executive Officer. Under Baxter's leadership, the company will use investment proceeds to accelerate the adoption and extensibility of compliant text-based solutions across the consumer finance lifecycle.
More than 1400 consumer finance organizations, including leading auto finance, banking and lending brands, trust Solutions by Text (SBT) to power compliant texting programs in support of their originations, servicing and collections initiatives. The company's platform uniquely enables controls and management over regulatory and carrier communication policies, including the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau's latest Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) requirements. FDCPA Regulation F, going into effect today, is an acknowledgment of the critical need for compliance-first messaging solutions, which SBT has been delivering for its customers for more than a decade.
"Eight in ten U.S. adults use text messaging on a regular basis. With Solutions by Text, financial institutions are meeting these consumers where and how they want to be met, and doing so with peace of mind," said Kelly Ford, General Partner, Edison Partners, who led the investment and joins the company's board of directors. "The company is uniquely positioned to scale growth in the fintech market with a team of deep regulatory compliance, messaging and payments expertise, not to mention a sizable loyal customer and partner base with significant embedded opportunity."
Edison Partners' investment coincides with the appointment of David Baxter as the company's CEO. Baxter is is a payments industry executive joining the company from ACI Worldwide, where he led sales for the past eight years. Baxter grew and scaled the ACI bill presentment and payment business, following the acquisition of Online Resources, from $20 million to over $600 million, moving the company's biller-focused segment from No. 12 to No. 1 in the industry.
SBT founders, Danny and Mike Cantrell, impressively bootstrapped the company's historical growth, which has been grounded in strong customer centricity. Both will continue to hold strategic customer-facing positions in the business going forward. "We started SBT knowing there was a compelling need to give financial institutions compliance certainty as they seek to connect with consumers in the channels they use every day," said co-founder Danny Cantrell. "As we've reached a new phase of growth, bringing on David is an important milestone. He's an impressive growth leader, an innovator in payments, and I am thrilled to seize our incredible market opportunity with him at the helm."
"I've long admired SBT's leadership in compliant SMS, so it's exciting to team with founders Danny and Mike Cantrell," said David Baxter, newly appointed Solutions by Text CEO. "Now more than ever, consumer finance organizations are taking a hard look at how to strengthen digital consumer relationships while maintaining compliance with national standards. Our opportunity to capture market share through existing and expanded platform capabilities is immense and we've assembled an exceptional team and board to turbo-charge this next chapter of growth. Edison's fintech domain expertise and growth-stage operating know-how has already been invaluable."
Joining Ford and Baxter on the board are co-founder Mike Cantrell and Edison Director Network members Ron Hynes and Nick Manolis. A payments industry veteran, Hynes is currently the CEO of Vesta and previously served with Ford on Bento for Business' board of directors prior to its sale to U.S. Bank last quarter. Manolis, SBT's Chairman, is an enterprise SaaS industry veteran who has successfully led Edison portfolio companies as CEO and as board director.
Recognized by LendIt Fintech as Fintech Equity Investor of the Year, Edison Partners has financed and guided more than 50 private fintech market leaders. The firm's current active portfolio includes Bipsync, ComplySci, Fund That Flip, GAN Integrity, Giant Oak, GoHenry, Houwzer, MoneyLion, Nuula, Prepaid Technologies, Yieldstreet, and Zelis.
The investment in SBT is Edison Partners' fifth investment in Texas and third in the southern United States this year following investments in Houston, Texas-based MacroFab and Birmingham, Alabama-based Prepaid Technologies.
About Solutions By Text
Solutions by Text (SBT) was founded in 2008 with the mission to deliver impactful conversational messaging and convenient payment partner solutions that are rich, real-time and compliant. Built on hard-earned trust and SMS industry best practices, the company is the only compliance-first provider of enterprise texting solutions in the market. More than 1400 consumer finance organizations, including leading brands in auto finance, banking and lending, trust SBT to ensure convenient, effective and compliant relationships with their millions of consumers. SBT is headquartered in Dallas, TX with remote teams and offices around the US and in Bangalore, India. For more information, visit http://www.solutionsbytext.com.
About Edison Partners
For 35 years, Edison Partners has been helping CEOs and their executive teams grow and scale successful companies. The firm's investment team brings extensive investing and operating experience to each investment. Through a unique combination of growth capital and the Edison Edge platform, consisting of operating centers of excellence, the Edison Director Network, and executive education programs, Edison employs a truly integrated approach to accelerating growth and creating value for businesses. A team of experts in enterprise solutions, financial technology, and healthcare IT sectors, Edison targets high-growth companies located outside Silicon Valley with $10 to $30 million in revenue; investments also include buyouts, recapitalizations, spinouts and secondary stock purchases.
Edison's active portfolio has created aggregated market value exceeding $10 billion. Edison Partners is based in Princeton, NJ and manages more than $2 billion in assets.
Media Contact
Alex Symos, Edison Partners, 908-770-6883, [email protected]
SOURCE Edison Partners
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