Cross River Bank, a US-based neobank that counts online lender CreditEase as an investor, has secured $100m in a series C round co-led by investment adviser V Capital and investment firm Shefa Capital.
Founded in 2008, Cross River runs a regulated banking service tailored to businesses, in addition to offering real estate loans and capital markets advisory services. It is currently lending to businesses through the US government’s Paycheck Protection Program.
The company also originates loans on behalf of digital lending platforms and provides payment technology and banking-as-a-service software for businesses looking to diversify into financial services.
V Capital is in the process of applying for a digital banking licence in its home nation of Malaysia and invested through an agreement that will involve it becoming Cross River’s partner in Southeast Asia.
Investment firm KKR led Cross River’s last round, when it raised $100m from investors also including CreditEase, Lion Tree Partners, Battery Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Ribbit Capital in late 2018.
The latter three had already supplied $26m in series A funding for the company in 2016. It framed the series C as a pre-IPO round and intends to go public in 2021.
Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun, chairman of V Capital, said: “This partnership will ensure that VCI and CRB will be the leading players in the Southeast Asian fintech ecosystem in the next five years.”
