Fintech company’s fast growth demands new headquarters
Aug. 26, 2019
There’s a day designated to celebrate basically anything – and April 9 happens to be National Unicorn Day.
Expansion Capital Group wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass by.
So on that day, an employee dressed as a unicorn rode around the Sioux Falls office on roller blades handing out candy.
“We do a lot of really fun things,” human resources director Kelsey Hillberg said. “But the reason we do that is because on the other side, we’re spending a lot of time grinding over here. We work really hard, and we play hard, and that’s an important part of our culture.”
In startup vernacular, the fast-growing fintech company isn’t quite a unicorn – that term generally is reserved for startups valued at more than $1 billion – but its performance is impressive nonetheless.
For the second consecutive year, it was ranked on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies, based on revenue growth between 2015 and 2018. Expansion Capital grew 97 percent in those three years, achieving $31.3 million in revenue last year.
“It’s fun here,” chief operating officer Herk Christie said. “It’s fun when you’re a smaller company and you’re helping small businesses succeed. There’s a lot of fun championing the cause, and we have a lot of passionate people.”
The company was started in 2013 by a group of investors who learned about Sioux Falls when considering another fintech investment here.
Expansion Capital caters to small businesses needing loans for capital from $5,000 to $500,000. Since its founding, it has provided $350 million in working capital to more than 12,000 businesses.
Applications can be done online. A quote is returned in 24 hours, and money can be transferred to a business account in as few as two days. Machine-based learning helps the company make credit decisions in 24 to 72 hours.
“It gives us an advantage versus banking,” Christie said.
“People are looking for fast ways to get the things they need. Whether it’s a new opportunity or challenge that comes up, speed tends to be a big factor. So the faster we can make our process – and we’re focused on the experience side for our merchants and how they interact with us – hopefully all that leads to continued success.”
It already has resulted in more hiring and soon a new office. The company is at 70 employees and projects it will reach 120 in the next five years.
“In the next six months to a year, we’re looking to add roughly 10 to 15 people,” Hillberg said. “We’re looking at all professional level positions in the areas of marketing, finance, IT and data analytics.”
The company also is split between two buildings on Broadband Lane in southwest Sioux Falls – for now.
It’s moving into the nearby former National American University building at 5801 S. Corporate Place this fall, which ultimately will triple its existing space.
“The plan is we’ll build it in phases,” Christie said. “We’re doing the first floor as phase one, and the second floor will be a phase two about two years out.”
The jobs are not entry-level positions, he added, and are not what he called “call center-esque.”
“Our folks are being promoted from entry-level roles into professional roles, and we’re not backfilling,” he said.
“We’re automating. We’re able to get a lot more out of the data as we build our technology base. We get smarter every year, every month. We try to be very focused on all aspects of our company, whether it’s learning from our data, our experiences or building our culture.”
The culture includes a range of experiences designed to engage and retain employees – from fun elements including a summer party, office Olympics and a recent video game tournament – to opportunities to advance in their careers.
Because Expansion Capital Group isn’t quite a household name in the business community yet, Hillberg said there has been an emphasis on trying to build the brand.
“Part of our process is helping people understand who we are as a company, and that takes awhile for us. But we’re finding great people,” she said. “It’s not so much difficult as it is time-consuming. It’s hunting versus fishing. We’re not just casting a net. We’re making sure we have the right people in the right positions, but we’re committed to Sioux Falls and finding the people we need here.”
