Fintech Companies of the Carolinas:
Company Name: Constellation Digital Partners
Leadership Team: Kris Kovacs, CEO; Ed Brooks, CTO/CISO; Lauren Moran, COS
Website/Social Platforms: Website: constellation.coop, Twitter: ConstellationDP, LinkedIn: Constellation Digital Partners, Facebook: Constellation Digital Partners, Instagram: constellationdp
Company Overview:
Constellation is developing the first open digital services platform specifically designed to enable a marketplace of digital financial services; helping credit unions unlock innovation to compete survive, and win. The patented, secure and flexible cloud-based marketplace enables upper to mid-tier credit unions and innovative application developers to provide safe, reliable, and next-generation digital financial service experiences. Constellation will redefine what credit unions offer, delivering digital financial services in a way that enables them to place members at the center of their business strategy.
What is the inspiration for your company?
As the former CIO of Coastal Credit Union, Kris was continuously confronted with the issue of legacy systems preventing his credit union from accessing innovative services for its members. He wanted to create a way to separate content (applications) from the platform so that legacy players would no longer be a barrier to Fintech innovation. It was very clear that no single provider could do everything a financial services institution needs, and Coastal was inspired to create a disruptive marketplace that would allow financial institutions to build a network of solution providers using an “integration first” strategy.
Who is your competition and how do you distinguish your company?
Constellation will be the first cloud-based financial services platform in the market, so in that respect it does not have direct competitors. Although some legacy fintech providers may view Constellation as a threat, Constellation does not believe that needs to be true. Constellation is attempting to create a more open marketplace where legacy providers and smaller fintechs can all prosper with increased access to credit union members.
What is your connection to the Carolinas and reason for joining Carolina Fintech Hub?
Kris was formerly the CIO of Coastal Federal Credit Union, a credit union local to Raleigh. Kris and current CEO Chuck Purvis are responsible for the concept of Constellation, as well as for driving a 3-year R&D effort which resulted in a proof of concept and patent; paving the way for Constellation to move from concept to company.
We want to be a part of the Carolina Fintech Hub so that we can connect with other great Fintech startups, both to learn from each other and to potentially find synergies that will lead to future business relationships.
Recent Accomplishments and Challenges (share with our audience how your company has made recent progress)
Constellation is about to close the largest single round equity funding in credit union history. We are proud of this accomplishment and believe it is representative of the industry’s interest in fundamentally changing the way digital services are currently being provided. In March we wrapped up our first Developers Conference in Atlanta. We had 40 attendees from our credit union and Fintech service provider partners come learn how to build tiles on the Constellation platform. It was a great turnout and we are thrilled with the feedback and excitement that our developers shared.
What is Next?… (for you, the industry, the next 5 years?)
Looking ahead into 2018, we have two significant platform releases remaining for this year. Aquarius 1.1 (May) will provide a Developer Portal that registered Developers will use to onboard and test their tiles on the platform. Bootes 2.0 (September) will pave the way for authenticated services to be deployed on the platform. These releases are significant extensions to our platform that will allow us to start putting actual services in the hands of our investor credit unions. Looking ahead to 2019, we anticipate completing the build of our basic digital banking service tiles as well as identifying providers for other supporting services needed by our investors. The industry continues to be focused on the use of innovative Fintech products as evidenced by the incredible investments large, national financial institutions are making in the Fintech space. We do not anticipate this trend will change and we believe we are well positioned to support that shift.
