Around the end of October, it was announced that MN FinTech company, Total Expert, had received $52M in series C funding. This increase brings their total funding to $86M and solidifies Total Expert as one of the 15 fastest growing software companies in the U.S. We chatted with CEO Joe Welu recently about how this increase in funding was going to benefit his company, the state, and ultimately, the entire financial industry they serve.
Total Expert wants to humanize customer journeys at scale. According to Welu, the company creates software that makes it easier for their customers to bring a human element back to the relationships they have with their customers. “Tech has somewhat diluted the human element. We want to bring back the idea of loyalty and having customers for life.” The Total Expert platform allows their customers (mostly within the financial industry) to connect with people more deeply and build trust, which in turn leads to loyalty. Their product integrates data and applications to deliver a cohesive customer experience across the entire customer lifecycle.
Currently serving customers like banks, credit unions, lenders and mortgage providers, Total Expert sees this new funding as an opportunity to expand into other areas such as Insurance providers. It will also allow the company to expand their number of employees. Welu said, “We are hoping to add about 100 people to our company over the next 12-15 months.” These jobs will be focused primarily in Data Science, Design, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence. While having a background in any of those areas is preferred, it is certainly not necessary. “We look for people that are wicked smart, and passionate, with a desire to work hard for a company with a large vision like ours.” Welu describes his philosophy of growth as, “…building a culture of top performers, where the best people know it’s hard work, but also know it’s incredibly rewarding. The diversity of our workforce is our strength.”
The Total Expert platform pushes out new functionality every month, and they will continue to expand on existing capabilities. Next year, the plan is to expand on their machine learning and AI in order to help customers build better business outcomes. Welu said that, “some platforms leave it up to their customers to determine and increase business outcomes, where we give them the tools to do it.” “We consider ourselves a strategic partner to the financial services sector” and in order to continue that trend, they will have to continue to produce outcomes. This new round of funding secures their ability to continue to do just that.
Welu needs more great people to continue expanding this important work. “We are hiring only the best and the brightest. Those who want to work for the fastest growing company in our region, and do the work necessary to provide service to such a huge industry, should contact us.”
