First Rate Ventures’ purpose is to positively impact our clients, our coworkers, and our community through the deployment of capital to early stage FinTech. We are a strategic investor, meaning our investments fit our strategic objectives as well as significantly benefit the portfolio company taking on the investment. We provide these outsized benefits by aligning with early stage companies that can benefit from our existing technology, infrastructure, and delivery teams. The core First Rate’s business ability to create long-term relationships with banks can also be leveraged by our portfolio companies, giving both our clients and portfolio companies new ways to work together. Here are three ways First Rate Ventures is unique in creating win-win relationships:

1. First Rate Ventures takes a redemptive approach to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses. With our longevity in the wealth management space as well as our secure infrastructure, we have the ability to facilitate introductions for early-stage companies to the right customers they need to help create sustainable growth. Additionally, our technology, infrastructure, and development teams can also help early-stage companies accelerate their product roadmaps and their development cycles in a capital efficient manner.
2. When it comes to cultivating win-win relationships, it’s important to understand the core values of the firm. First Rate Ventures is built on the idea that impact and business can exist in unison and complement each other. This concept is embedded into the core of our business and our core values. It has influenced and impacted the way that we approach relationships in that our goal is for them to serve a greater purpose than ourselves – leading to a win-win relationship.
3. It’s imperative that both firms are transparent about their core values and strategic goals to ensure that they are aligned culturally and strategically. First Rate Ventures focuses on relationships with other firms that either complement or enhance our current offerings in order to help each other accelerate their strategic objectives and create value for joint customers.

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