Engagement Banking leader Backbase raises €120M from Motive Partners

Having bootstrapped to €200 Million in revenue, Backbase is doubling down on its successful category strategy in partnership with specialist investor Motive Partners.

AMSTERDAM (June 9, 2022) – Backbase, creator of the category-leading Engagement Banking Platform, raised €120 million in growth equity funding from Motive Partners. Having grown organically to over €200 million in revenue, Backbase is now partnering with a Fintech specialist private equity firm, to further strengthen its claim on the Engagement Banking category.

This growth investment values Backbase at €2.5 billion. Motive Partners is a founder-friendly partner, fully supporting Backbase in remaining an independent force and driving the Engagement Banking strategy, by continuing to focus on customer-centric innovation that transforms the financial services industry’s siloed channels and legacy applications.

Most banks struggle with a patchwork of disconnected, point and channel solutions that were never designed to service the customer holistically, leaving behind a raft of broken journeys for their customers. This investment will allow Backbase to double down on its vision for Engagement Banking and accelerate its mission of re-architecting banking around the customer.

Engagement Banking is a paradigm shift. Rather than stitching these legacy applications together and trying to rework banking around outdated technology, banks and credit unions can instantly leverage the power of a cloud-based engagement banking platform to create frictionless customer journeys across all the stages of the customer lifecycle. From onboarding, to servicing, to lending, to expanding share of wallet, this investment supports the growth through product expansion and further growing our sales and marketing operations.

“Today is a major milestone for more than 2,000 Backbasers and 150 customers around the world, to celebrate the incredible progress we made. With this partnership, we’re even better equipped to drive our Engagement Banking vision to the next level. I couldn't be more excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and the positive impact we can make,” Jouk Pleiter, Founder and CEO of Backbase said. “To all our customers, I personally want to restate our long-term commitment to being your independent, long-term partner in innovation. For us, it is still day one."

“For more than a decade, Backbase has shown leadership and innovation in enhancing digital relationships between financial institutions and its customers,” explained Rob Heyvaert, Founder and Managing Partner of Motive Partners. “We’re excited to support Jouk and the Backbase team with this initial fundraise as they continue to expand, grow and build the leading, customer-centric, Engagement Banking Platform globally.”

Neil Cochrane, Partner at Motive Partners commented, “Backbase continues to lead an innovative category underpinning the banking sector, and we believe that together we have a unique growth opportunity to build upon Backbase’s strong foundations. As Backbase continues its growth journey, we’re excited to leverage our team’s depth of expertise alongside Jouk and the team.”

“Backbase’s proven track record of entrepreneurship and organic growth will continue. Our formula is simple: focus on the needs of our customers and empower highly skilled teams to deliver. We’re changing a big industry, which is hard work. Having critical mass and market momentum allows us to stay laser-focused,” Pleiter added. “Together we’re making it happen.”

A video message from Backbase Founder and CEO, Jouk Pleiter: https://www.backbase.com/backbase-raises-120m/.

About Backbase

Backbase is a financial technology company on a mission to re-architect banking around the customer. Our whitelabel Engagement Banking platform empowers banks and credit unions to rapidly digitize their customer-facing operations and create seamless journeys that meet and exceed the expectations of today's digital-savvy customers. With Backbase, banks and credit unions can put their customers back in the heart of their business.

Industry analysts Forrester, Gartner, Celent, Omdia and IDC continuously recognize Backbase’s category leadership position. Over 150 financials around the world have embraced the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform - including Advanzia, Banco Caja Social, Banco de la Nacion Peru, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Berenberg, BNP Paribas, Citizens Bank, ENT, Greater Bank, HDFC, Judo Bank, KeyBank, National Bank of Bahrain, Navy Federal Credit Union, Natwest, Pictet & Cie, Raiffeisen, SchoolFirst Federal Credit Union, Standard Bank, Société Générale, TPBank, Washington State Employee Credit Union and Wildfire Credit Union.

Backbase was founded in 2003 in Amsterdam (global HQ), with regional offices in Atlanta (Americas HQ), Boise, Mexico City, Toronto, London, Cardiff, Dubai, Kraków, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.

About Motive Partners

Motive Partners is a specialist private equity firm with offices in New York City and London, focusing on growth equity and buyout investments in software and information services companies based in North America and Europe and serving five primary subsectors: Banking & Payments, Capital Markets, Data & Analytics, Investment Management and Insurance. Motive Partners brings differentiated expertise, connectivity and capabilities to create long-term value in financial technology companies.