Republic Bank & Trust Company will be investing $5 million in technology companies and innovative products through a new incubator program.
The BankTech Incubator will look to support technologies that complement the bank’s strategic goals through investments in the companies and their products, and through knowledge-sharing, according to a news release.
“The BankTech Incubator allows us to create long-term partnerships with technology companies and share deep industry knowledge that influences the technology we use within the bank,” said Andrew Trager-Kusman, chief strategy officer at Republic Bank in the release. “We see value in investing in companies with which we also have a strategic relationship. These types of relationships will be truly symbiotic.”
Qualified companies or products for the incubator must have an existing or planned strategic relationship with the bank, allowing Republic to invest in companies its associates and customers know and trust.
This incubator program comes almost one year after the hiring of Chief Information Officer Jeff Starke, who will help guide the selection of the bank’s portfolio of companies. The investment committee evaluating opportunities is a multi-disciplinary group of Republic associates representing key areas across the bank, the release continued.
This latest initiative builds on Republic’s existing technology offerings, including 90 interactive teller machines (ITMs) across its footprint in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Florida, mobile and online banking used by over two-thirds of its personal retail clients and products offered through its Republic Processing Group.
“We’re going to be very thoughtful and selective to ensure the BankTech Incubator portfolio allows us to better serve the needs of our clients, as well as the bank,” Trager-Kusman said. “We do not have any current investments, but we’re confident this initiative will allow us to deepen our existing strategic relationships while we continue to develop new relationships in undiscovered areas.”
Other investments
The Republic Bank Foundation recently donated $200,000 to Simmons College of Kentucky, Louisville’s only historically Black college university (HBCU), to fund five annual student scholarships and restore the historic SchoolHouse building, which was Kentucky’s first-ever public school for Black students. Business First wrote about that project earlier this year.
Beyond providing financial support for students, Republic Bank is providing an internship program for Simmons students to receive real-world experience in diverse departments throughout the bank.
