Princeton growth equity firm Edison Partners on Tuesday said it led a $35 million investment in Solutions by Text, a Dallas-based provider of the compliant text messaging platform for consumer finance institutions.
This is Edison’s fifth investment in Texas and third in the southern United States this year, following investments in Houston-based MacroFab and Birmingham, Alabama-based Prepaid Technologies.
More than 1,400 consumer finance organizations, including leading auto finance, banking and lending brands trust Solutions by Text to power compliant texting programs in support of their originations, servicing and collections initiatives.
The company’s platform enables controls and management over regulatory and carrier communication policies, including the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s latest Fair Debt Collection Practices Act requirements.
“Eight in 10 U.S. adults use text messaging on a regular basis. With Solutions by Text, financial institutions are meeting these consumers where and how they want to be met, and doing so with peace of mind,” said Kelly Ford, general partner, Edison Partners, who led the investment and joins the company’s board of directors. “The company is uniquely positioned to scale growth in the fintech market with a team of deep regulatory compliance, messaging and payments expertise, not to mention a sizable loyal customer and partner base with significant embedded opportunity.”
Edison Partners’ investment coincides with the appointment of David Baxter as the company’s CEO. Baxter is a payments industry executive joining the company from ACI Worldwide, where he led sales for the past eight years.
SBT founders Danny and Mike Cantrell bootstrapped the company’s historical growth, which has been grounded in strong customer centricity. Both will continue to hold strategic customer-facing positions in the business going forward.
Joining Ford and Baxter on the board are co-founder Mike Cantrell and Edison Director Network members Ron Hynes and Nick Manolis. A payments industry veteran, Hynes is currently the CEO of Vesta and previously served with Ford on Bento for Business’ board of directors prior to its sale to U.S. Bank last quarter. Manolis, SBT’s chairman, is an enterprise Software-as-a-Service industry veteran who has successfully led Edison portfolio companies as CEO and as board director.
Edison’s fintech domain expertise and growth-stage operating knowhow has been invaluable to numerous companies. Recognized by LendIt Fintech as Fintech Equity Investor of the Year, Edison Partners has financed and guided more than 50 private fintech market leaders. The firm’s current active portfolio includes Bipsync, ComplySci, Fund That Flip, GAN Integrity, Giant Oak, GoHenry, Houwzer, MoneyLion, Nuula, Prepaid Technologies, Yieldstreet and Zelis.
