Baltimore cloud and cybersecurity IT services firm Think|Stack has acquired Wisconsin technology company Emergifi with the goal of expanding its business to serve more small and mid-sized credit unions.
The founder of Emergifi, Corporate Central Credit Union, will receive around 11% equity in Think|Stack as part of the purchase, which was announced Monday. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed. Emgerifi, which was founded in 2017, provides digital services to credit unions, such as the 450 credit unions that make up Corporate Central.
Think|Stack sought to acquire Emergifi in part due to its team of skilled employees, especially as the tight job market has made it difficult for the Baltimore firm to attract and retain staff, CEO Chris Sachse said. He added that the company previously planned to hire a team focused on products for smaller credit unions, but instead purchased Emergifi.
"We're just in full growth work right now," Sachse said. "So the ability to have people from Emergifi that know how to deliver with very little training really appealed to us."
Gregg Tushaus, currently the president and chief technology and strategy officer of Emergifi, will become a member of the Think|Stack board of directors. All six Emergifi employees will also migrate to Think|Stack as part of the deal. Some of the roughly six employees who were shared between Emergifi and Corporate Central will be available for Think|Stack for the foreseeable future, Corporate Central CEO and President Chris Felton said.
Think|Stack has been growing since the company landed $5 million in new funding in 2021 from four credit unions, an investment that turned the company into a Credit Union Services Organization. CUSOs primarily serve credit unions and are backed by investment from them as well.
Sachse said the company is projected to bring in between $12.5 and $13 million in revenue this year.
The merger also means Think|Stack now has access to Emergifi's client base, which is focused on smaller credit unions. That fills a gap for Think|Stack, which currently serves mostly larger credit unions.
"Think|Stack had already done a really nice job of making a name for itself among larger credit unions, but they didn't really have a smaller or mid-sized credit union solution," Corporate Central CEO and President Chris Felton said. "Emergifi was really focused on the smaller and mid-sized credit unions. So it just became a natural fit."
Think|Stack no longer has offices in Baltimore, though they used to be located in Harbor Point. Only 14 employees live in Maryland, with the rest of the staff working remotely in various parts of the country.
"We repurposed those funds into hiring," Sachse, referring to office costs, said.
Think|Stack primarily works with credit unions based in the West and Midwest. They also work with some non-credit union companies, such as Time Magazine.
