A company that had allegedly flown under the radar, the Dallas-Fort-Worth-based fintech Alkami Technology, has landed squarely in its deserved spotlight this year in a highly competitive market. Though this may surprise some, founder Stephen Bohanon saw it all coming.
Founded in 2009, Alkami is a banking software company that supplies cloud-based platforms that banks can use to facilitate digital operations to their customers. Despite not hailing from popular fintech cities, this Plano, Texas based company slowly chipped away at its milestones, growing steadily to 400 employees as it continued to supply technology to large U.S. banks and credit unions. It was a singular belief that enabled Alkami to fly out from under the radar and shock its competitors with a seemingly rapid trajectory and an intended IPO slated towards the end of this year.
Guided by the idea that “ultimately, everyone will go to electronic delivery,” Bohanon’s banking disruptor hit 2020 milestones that he had confidently predicted in 2019 before the pandemic. According to Bohanon in 2019, Alkami would reach 10 million contracted users and $100 million in revenue by the end of 2020. And he was right. His fintech brought in almost 10 million digital users and over $130 million of annual recurring revenue in 2020. But that’s not all, Alkami also raised $140 million in funding last year, which brought the company’s total funding to just over $400 million.
To surpass its milestones, the company grappled with the pandemic where it was met with a stroke of fortune, the truth of Bohanon’s belief that “everyone will go electronic delivery” in a pandemic where it became a necessity. Last year, Alkami’s tools came in handy as countless small banks and lenders who were under-resourced were able to utilize its services instead of developing expensive internal banking systems. As such, the company now services over 160 financial institutions as a result of the boost.
Now, the company has tipped Goldman Sachs to lead its IPO which analysts are already speculating may lead to a company valuation of $3 billion, putting Texas on the map for fintechs
