Aspiring neobank Vergo aims to serve US architecture SMEs

The US construction and interior design industry is set to get a dedicated banking service in the form of New York-based neobank Vergo.

Vergo CEO Rich Kane

The digital bank will cater to small and medium-sized enterprises in the AEC (architectural, engineering and construction) community, which constitutes one of the largest business communities in the world, with over $1 trillion in payment flows every year in the US alone.

Vergo will offer a debit account, cashback card, and invoice management software with no annual fees or credit checks. The firm received $100,000 in pre-Seed funding in August.

Vergo CEO and co-founder Rich Kane says the genesis of the bank can be traced back to various “pain points” he experienced managing project transactions and cash flow running his invoice-based “side hustles”.

While working at JP Morgan, Kane built up several businesses in the AEC industry including a custom furniture store, office furniture marketplace and an interior design studio.

“It was ironic that my biggest pain points were financial given I have a degree in economics, a job in investment banking strategy and being a start-up founder. I couldn’t get over how hard it must be for everyone else,” Kane says.

After reaching out to determine whether his issues were universal across the industry, Kane quit his job earlier this year in order to build an industry-specific digital bank.

Vergo has no set launch date as of yet, but recently joined the start-up accelerator Forum Ventures programme.

The neobank has over 2,000 people on its waitlist after launching its landing page six weeks ago.