Greenwood, the digital banking startup for Black and Latino people and business owners, has acquired fellow neobank Kinly, bringing the two largest fintechs focused on the Black community together as one company.
The acquisition follows a $45 million funding round secured by Greenwood in November and will add 300,000 new customers to its one million customer count.
Since its launch in 2020, Kinly has raised $20 million in funding from key investors like Forerunner Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Anthemis, and Kapor Capital to improve the financial outcomes of Black Americans through financial education, saving and wealth building.
As part of the acquisition, Kinly founder and CEO Donald Hawkins will join the Greenwood executive management team as a vice president.
“Kinly has always shared in our commitment to building a more transparent banking experience for Black Americans,” says Ryan Glover, CEO and co-founder of Greenwood. “The acquisition of Kinly represents a massive milestone for Greenwood as we continue in our shared effort to elevate financial tools available for our community. In partnership with Donald Hawkins from Kinly, we plan to grow our footprint and expand our services to provide best-in-class experiences for Black and brown families and businesses.”
This deal, which comes weeks after Greenwood closed its waitlist and went fully live for the general public, marks the company's third acquisition over the last year. Since the beginning of 2022, Greenwood has also acquired The Gathering Spot, A3C, and Valence to provide its members with access to additional professional services and networking opportunities. The company also launched Elevate, a premium lifestyle product designed exclusively for Greenwood members.