Headlines December 13, 2021
Here are some of the top stories we’re following for Monday, December 13, 2021.
Damian Giletto, Wochit
Investor Cash Management, a 3-year-old financial services technology startup, is planning to build its headquarters in downtown Wilmington after being awarded $4.3 million in taxpayer grants on Monday.
ICM will invest up to $15 million in the facility and plans to employ 395 people.
The startup boasts what it calls a “transformative technology” that can change securities such as mutual funds or ETFs into digital transaction currencies. It allows users to make investments while maintaining the immediate liquidity provided by a typical bank account.
“The problem that we solve is the most fundamental of economic problems, ‘What should I do with my money?'” said ICM CEO and founder Fred Phillips.
Its mobile app and web portal, which are currently being offered to a handful of wealth management firms and nonprofits, can act as a sole bank account with no fees or minimum balances or can be used to allocate money in investments rather than leaving money in low-interest checking or savings accounts.
Founded in 2018, ICM is currently based in Chicago and employs 30 people. The company has a lease at the office tower at 1201 N. Market into 2023. It will look for a new location in Wilmington to build its headquarters in the middle of next year, Phillips said.
The taxpayer grants, awarded by the state’s Council on Development Finance, will support immediate improvements and the eventual headquarters.
“The company’s selection, in our opinion, of Delaware as its future location would further expand our state’s reputation as not just a financial services hub, but as an ideal location for emerging digital and financial technology companies,” said Kurt Foreman, CEO of the Delaware Prosperity Partnership, which oversees economic development in Delaware.
The state on Monday awarded a combined $7.6 million in taxpayer grants to ICM and three other companies to expand or establish operations in Delaware.
The money comes from Delaware’s Strategic Fund, a pool of state money meant to attract businesses and generate jobs in the First State.
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