Sandbox Wealth, a turnkey banking solution for non-bank financial institutions, announced today the successful pre-seed fundraise of $1.25 million in capital, led by NextGen Venture Partners, with participation from Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, gener8tor, and RevTech Labs. The investment validates Sandbox’s vision to provide RIAs and Family Offices access to deposits, lending, and enterprise-grade analytics through its open architecture banking platform.
The new capital will support Sandbox’s efforts to attract top engineering talent and further R&D related to building out its three-sided marketplace for advisors, bankers, and their clients. The company seeks to provide a seamless experience for advisors, who would be partners and support their ability to drive organic growth, provide a full suite of private banking solutions, and deepen client relationships. For lenders, it provides an attractive channel to grow their deposits and lending base with lower-risk borrowers, including High-Net-Worth Individuals with stable financial profiles.
“We believe that Sandbox Wealth provides a compelling business model focusing on data, open architecture private banking, and AI-powered insights,” said Jon Bassett, Managing Partner, NextGen Venture Partners. “The company has uncovered a lucrative segment at the intersection of liquidity solutions and wealth, which will fill a banking services gap faced by RIAs and Family Offices, with a diverse selection of products from many lenders.”
Multiple trends are playing out in the wealth management industry that support the launch and future growth of the Sandbox Wealth offering. These include innovations in artificial intelligence, open finance, and global instant payment networks that are shaking up the banking industry. This confluence of factors has the potential to empower independent advisory firms, which manage over $8 trillion, according to LLR Partners, with an alternate driver of organic growth. Sandbox is building a solution for a segment that needs access to holistic liquidity solutions while banking partners can grow high-quality lending and deposit portfolios.
Recent regulatory changes in the banking industry are advantageous for Sandbox. The CFPB’s Rule 1033 guidance mandates that certain data providers allow consumer-authorized third parties, such as Sandbox, access to covered banking data. New payment rails, such as Real-Time Payments (RTP) and FedNow, will enable quicker access to data and capital between financial institutions.
Sandbox is also on the verge of launching its flagship banking and lending platform, along with securing relationships with advisors, Family Offices, and lenders ahead of launch. Another critical component of Sandbox’s open architecture platform is its early investment in building rigorous security protocols, culminating in earning its SOC 2 certification. This voluntary framework audits a company’s ability to construct exhaustive controls that securely manage customer data in the context of its core infrastructure. The platform will also provide AI-powered natural language processing for extracting insights from financial documents, driving significant efficiencies for advisors, lenders, and clients.
“We are seeking to empower advisors with a broad range of banking and lending products from a network of lenders that meet the unique needs of sophisticated clients,” said Ray Denis, CEO of Sandbox Wealth. “Another important segment for Sandbox is banks, which now have another channel to deploy lucrative balance sheet products with a modern customer and employee experience. We can combine data aggregation and analytics with liquidity products clients want, enabling expedited underwriting on loans and easier money movement between institutions across our platform.”
About Sandbox Wealth
Founded by Ray Denis, Sandbox Wealth is dedicated to modernizing private banking solutions by leveraging technology to deliver personalized, efficient, and secure tools for wealthy individuals and families since its inception in 2023. Named to RevTech Labs Class 21, Sandbox was selected from a highly competitive application field of 10,000 start-ups to receive business, entrepreneurial, and venture capital support. The Wealthtech start-up was also chosen by Northwestern Mutual’s prestigious Black Founder Accelerator, which provides funding and supports Black entrepreneurs with access to a network of experienced mentors, industry experts, and potential investors. Learn more about how Sandbox Wealth can support RIAs and Family Offices with their clients’ banking and lending needs, along with partnering with lenders to expand their balance sheets at https://www.sandboxwealth.com/.
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