Wilmington-based fintech firm Apiture has raised $29 million in its latest round of funding, which the company will use to expand its sales and marketing efforts and accelerate product development, according to a press release Thursday.

With this funding, which was led by Live Oak Bank, Apiture has now raised a total of $69 million since its inception in 2017.

“We appreciate the confidence our existing investors have demonstrated in our business through this fundraising round,” Chris Babcock, CEO of Apiture, said in the release. “It is worth noting that two-thirds of the capital we have raised in this round has come from investors that are also Apiture clients, including Live Oak Bank, Pinnacle Bank and BHG Financial. Their investment both underscores and reinforces the strength of Apiture’s solutions in a competitive market.” 

The company, which develops digital banking products, said it will also use the money to meet the increased demand for its Digital Banking Platform, currently used by more than 300 banks and credit unions in the U.S.

The platform was announced this year and is a result of a combination of two of its products, Apiture Xpress and Apiture Open, which provide web and mobile consumer banking, business banking, digital account opening, API banking for interaction between banks and tech companies and data intelligence.

Apiture has about 320 employees, with an additional office in Texas, and is a joint-venture of Live Oak Bank and Atlanta-based First Data. (First Data later merged with Fiserv.)

This latest funding is the largest amount the company has raised, after $20 million in July 2020 and $10 million in January 2021.

“Financial institutions are keenly aware of the importance of digital channels and the need to elevate the online and mobile banking experience for their consumer and business customers,” said Stephanie Mann, Live Oak Bank chief strategy officer, in the release. “We are thrilled to support Apiture as it accelerates enhancements to its cloud-based, API-first technology platform while scaling to serve a growing number of banks and credit unions.”