Chicago Fintech Founder Darnell Ashworth Closes $16 Million Series A

Darnell Ashworth's Chicago-based fintech startup, LedgerBridge, closed a $16 million Series A funding round this week to expand its banking software platform, which helps small credit unions modernize their core banking systems without the cost of a full enterprise software overhaul.

Ashworth founded LedgerBridge four years ago after working as a technology consultant for community banks and credit unions, where he saw firsthand how many smaller financial institutions were still running on decades-old core banking systems that made it difficult to offer modern digital banking features to members.

"Small credit unions kept getting quoted seven-figure prices just to modernize their systems, money that simply doesn't exist for an institution with a few thousand members," Ashworth said. "We built a platform that layers on top of their existing systems instead of ripping everything out, which brings the cost down by an order of magnitude."

The Series A round was led by a Chicago-based venture capital firm with participation from several credit union-focused investment funds. Ashworth said the funding will support expanding LedgerBridge's engineering team and adding new compliance reporting features that credit unions have specifically requested.

LedgerBridge currently serves 42 credit unions across the Midwest region and employs 26 people at its office in the West Loop. Ashworth said the company plans to double its client base over the next two years, targeting credit unions with fewer than 50,000 members that have historically been underserved by major banking software vendors.