How to invest in Cross River Bank stock pre-IPO
Since the global financial crisis, a wave of new fintechs has emerged across areas such as online banking, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), and crypto. But behind the scenes, many of these startups leverage the technology of another fintech company, Cross River Bank.
Cross River is a chartered, FDIC-insured bank,3 but rather than offering services directly to consumers, it largely operates as a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) provider.4
This BaaS model enables other fintechs, such as Affirm, Current and Upgrade, to offer products and services in areas like lending, credit cards and deposit accounts.5,6 Cross River's API technology is also used in areas like payments, and it has been making a bigger push into crypto technology, with Coinbase also being a notable customer.7
In addition to notable customers, Cross River Bank also has prominent backers, such as Andreessen Horowitz and T. Rowe Price, with the company hitting a $3 billion valuation in 2022.8
The following year, Cross River's CEO and founder, Gilles Gade, said that the bank planned to IPO in 2025.9 While that timeline did not materialize, recent reporting from Axios indicates the bank has reengaged IPO preparations, inviting Wall Street banks to a bakeoff and choosing lead advisors.10
Still, interested accredited investors may still be able to express interest in Cross River Bank stock pre-IPO through a private marketplace like Forge, subject to share availability and transfer restrictions. Retail investors may review publicly available assets that seek to track broader fintech or financial services trends, though these assets may not correlate with Cross River’s performance.
Cross River Bank: Company background
Cross River was founded in 2008 as a chartered bank in New Jersey, trying to fill a hole for credit access in the wake of the Great Recession. In 2010, it then entered into its first tech partnership to offer loans outside its physical presence in New Jersey. That kickstarted more partnerships with third-party loan origination platforms, such as Affirm, Rocket Loans, and Upgrade.11
In the years since, Cross River has expanded its technology to support more areas across financial services. Its Cross River Operation System (COS) platform is an API-driven banking platform that supports banking solutions like payments, lending and cards.12
Cross River also adapted to become the second-largest lender for the Covid-era Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).13
The bank has also been highly active in crypto, such as recently partnering with Visa to provide stablecoin settlement for a new pilot program.14
Cross River Bank stock and funding history
Forge Data as of 04/21/2026
Details on Cross River's stock history and funding history are relatively limited, but its most recent primary funding round was a $620 million Series D in 2022. This funding round, as reported at the time, valued Cross River at $3 billion, with a stock price of $105.14.15 The round was led by Eldridge and Andreessen Horowitz, along with investment from T. Rowe Price, Whale Rock and Hanaco Ventures.16
Since then, however, Cross River's Forge Price declined from prior levels based on available inputs from secondary market activity. It hit a recent low of $35 in the spring of 2025, but it has since climbed back up a bit to $55, implying a $1.57 billion valuation. Still, that's nearly a 48% decrease since its last primary funding round.17
Forge Data as of 04/21/2026
Forge Price is a derived data point that reflects the up-to-date price performance of venture-backed, late-stage companies, and is calculated based on a proprietary model incorporating pricing inputs from primary funding round information and secondary market transactions on Forge.
How to buy Cross River Bank stock
While Cross River Bank has expressed interest in going public eventually, for now its stock is not for sale to the general public. However, accredited investors may be able to identify potential trading interest in Cross River Bank stock through Forge's next-generation marketplace for private market trades, subject to availability.
Forge's technology and relationships help facilitate the trading of private company shares in companies like Cross River Bank, along with other private market tech companies.
For indirect exposure, accredited investors could also explore other alternatives such as looking at private market shares in other types of AI companies like:
- Mercury: Primarily a business banking fintech and accounting platform. Cross River does provide tech to related types of B2B fintechs, but stock performance may vary, given Mercury's direct relationship with customers vs. Cross River's broader partnerships.
- Upgrade: Upgrade is a consumer-focused fintech that is a customer of Cross River, leveraging the bank's charter and technology to originate loans and enable products like checking/savings accounts.18 That said, performance may vary significantly among their stocks, given that Cross River has exposure to many other finance companies via its partnerships.
- Varo: Another fintech that's similar to Upgrade, offering consumer products like checking/savings accounts and some lending products; like with Upgrade, there might be significant variance between Varo's and Cross River's stock.
Who can invest in Cross River Bank pre-IPO?
Investment in a non-public company like Cross River is typically limited to accredited investors, due to U.S. regulations that generally restrict the offer and sale of private company securities to such investors.
Some large, accredited investors, such as VC funds and certain high-net-worth individuals, may be able to invest in Cross River if selected to participate in primary funding rounds or strategic investment partnerships. Smaller accredited investors may choose to purchase Cross River stock through a private stock marketplace like Forge, subject to the availability of shares.
Where to buy pre-IPO Cross River Bank stock
While pre-IPO Cross River Bank stock is not for sale to the general public, accredited investors may be able to find shares for sale through a private marketplace such as Forge for private market trading.
Through Forge, you can access Cross River Bank's Forge Price, which provides real-time transparency by synthesizing data from various sources, including secondary market transactions, recent funding rounds and active bids and asks on Forge.
These contextual pricing insights seek to provide information investors can review when evaluating bids and asks or see if they want to create a new bid for Cross River shares.
Potential indirect exposure for Cros
While retail investors are generally unable to buy Cross River stock unless it eventually goes public, there are publicly available investment options that may provide exposure to broader trends in the fintech or financial services sectors, which could, in turn, impact companies like Cross River.
Some examples include:
1. Publicly Traded B2B Fintech Infrastructure Companies
While Cross River operates in a relatively niche space, there are some publicly traded companies that offer related types of B2B financial infrastructure tech, such as FIS, Fiserv and Marqeta. That said, these types of companies might only have partial overlap with Cross River, and performance may vary significantly due to differing strategies, market positions, and financial conditions.
2. Publicly Traded Consumer Fintechs
Several of Cross River's fintech partners are publicly traded companies, such as Affirm, Rocket Companies and Upstart.19 Investors may also gain exposure to related fintechs like Block, Chime or SoFi, to name a few. However, performance may vary significantly between these types of fintechs and Cross River, given Cross River's banking infrastructure focus, among other differences.
3. Cryptocurrencies and Crypto-Related Funds
Another option investors may evaluate is cryptocurrencies or crypto-related funds that hold stocks of companies like Coinbase, a Cross River partner.20 Given Cross River's focus on providing technology in the crypto space, such as to support stablecoin settlement,21 there could be some correlation. Still, differences such as Cross River's focus on other areas of finance besides crypto may limit performance correlation.
How to analyze Cross River Bank stock
Private companies generally do not face the same disclosure requirements as public companies, which can make analyzing Cross River stock challenging.
Interested investors can analyze Cross River's quarterly call reports on the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)'s website. For example, the call reports show that Cross River had about $27.3 million in net income in Q3 2025, up a bit from the $25.5 million in net income in Q3 2024.22
So, investors might review this type of data in parallel with other financial services and tech companies that release similar information. Not all private companies release this type of detail, but you may be able to still find some related data to create comparisons to other fintechs listed on Forge's private stock marketplace. Similarly, investors could compare Cross River's data to what publicly traded fintechs disclose, which might provide some valuation signals.
Still, despite the detail of Cross River's call reports, some data like Cross River's stock valuation remains more opaque compared to how publicly traded stocks have essentially real-time valuations. So, there can be more subjectivity involved in analyzing Cross River stock, along with the valuations of other private market companies.
Get started investing Cross River Bank on Forge
To explore investing in Cross River Bank pre-IPO, if and when shares become available, start by creating a free Forge account. Forge operates a leading marketplace that seeks to connect accredited investors with shareholders of private company stock.
After verifying your accreditation, you may gain access to tools and insights intended to support your experience in the private market, including active private market opportunities and a platform experience designed for independent investors. If you're unfamiliar with the process, our buyer’s guide aims to offer a helpful starting point. And should you need additional support, Forge’s knowledgeable team is available to assist.
FAQs about investing in Cross River Bank
Where do I buy Cross River Bank stock?
As a private company, Cross River Bank stock is generally limited to accredited investors. If eligible, however, you may be able to express interest in buying and selling Cross River stock through a private marketplace such as Forge (subject to availability and transfer restrictions).
Who can invest in Cross River Bank?
Typically, only accredited investors can invest in private market companies like Cross River Bank. This can include institutional investors such as VC firms that might participate in primary funding rounds, as well as high-net-worth individuals who may qualify to trade private market stocks in companies like Cross River, subject to availability, through a secondary marketplace such as Forge. If it eventually conducts an IPO, then the general public would be able to invest in Cross River.
Who are Cross River's competitors?
Cross River competes with some other chartered banks like Column and Pathward that also provide underlying services to other finance companies. Others, such as WebBank, Celtic Bank and The Bancorp Bank, similarly help other fintechs leverage their charters to offer deposit accounts.
