A technology company founded by Muskego-based Corporate Central Credit Union has been acquired by a Baltimore cloud and cybersecurity IT services firm in exchange for equity in the Maryland firm.
Think|Stack bought Emergifi, a product Corporate Central launched in 2017 to provide digital services to credit unions, according to a Monday announcement.
Corporate Central, which is owned and governed by its 450 credit union members, will receive around 11% equity in Think|Stack as part of the purchase. Emergifi president Gregg Tushaus 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.
Tushaus was previously the founder and CEO of Tushaus Computer Services, which he sold to Pewaukee's Dedicated Computing Inc. in 2011.
Think|Stack's goal for the acquisition is to expand its business to serve more small and mid-sized credit unions. It 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, Think|Stack 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."
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. Emergifi is also a CUSO.
Sachse said Think|Stack 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," Felton said. "Emergifi was really focused on the smaller and mid-sized credit unions. So it just became a natural fit."
