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CompanyProfile

A digital-first investment bank

that 'gets' payments and technology

n 2020 at the height of the pandemic from the home
office of Adam T. Hark, managing member of
Wellesley Hills Financial, saw a demand for access
I to quality capital in payments, fintech and software
verticals that wasn't being addressed. He saw founders
and innovators in need of working capital to go to market
and grow their companies; this was especially true for
firms in the lower-middle and micro-market sectors with
enterprise values between $10 million and $500 million.

Companies of this size are frequently overlooked by larg-
er investment bank houses, Hark realized, because rais-
ing capital requires working with traditional M&A con-
sultants who are registered with FINRA and the SEC and
don't typically work with smaller companies. He resolved ISO/MLS contact:
to fill this gap by creating a firm that valued creativity, O.B. Rawls, executive director
with guiding tenets of thoughtfulness, financial rigor and
financial knowledge. Thus, Wellesley Hills Financial was 617-340-8779
established.
ob.rawls@wellesleyhillsfinancial.com
"Understanding our vertical expertise and the size of the www.wellesleyhillsfinancial.com
companies we represent, our overarching first principle
is to do our best to achieve an outcome that answers the
needs of the client," he said. "Or in other words, we're not
in the business of pushing transactions for transactions'
sake—it's all about the client's objectives." "We're closing in on our second major milestone for the
firm, which is to build a meaningful pipeline of oppor-
Paytech expertise tunities in our broader coverage areas of payments, fin-
Hark, who currently leads WHF's broader financial tech- tech and tech-enabled software," he said shortly before
this profile's publication. "For us, this is very significant
nology and tech-enabled software practice, recently ap- because it's evidence that we're definitely doing quality
pointed O.B. Rawls as executive director and Anthony work."
Malatesta as director of the firm's payments technology
practice. The growing company currently employs 10 Trusted partner for raises, M&A
members, and has near-term plans for additional ap-
pointments. Hark went on to say that Wellesley Hills Financial's pri-
mary offerings are capital raising and mergers and acqui-
Unlike other investment banks and specialty payment sitions. Beyond that, he said, the company performs quite
consultancies that focus on the purchase and sale of mer- a bit of consulting work, which includes 409A valuations,
chant portfolios, WHF has broader areas of focus and is restructurings, and KPI analysis and financial modeling.
actually an investment bank with its own broker dealer,
Hark noted, adding that in an of itself, that is not unique, Given its deep expertise and long-lasting relationships in
but is unusual for a company that works with the smaller- multiple sectors, WHF has a strong network in payments
size companies. and fintech that lends itself to establishing highly valu-
able strategic partnerships among a healthy cross-section
"It's funny that even though our core team has been bank- of clients, Hark noted.
ing assets in the payments space for a very long time, it's
only now with the new firm that we do so as an invest- "We want to be the number one investment bank and con-
ment bank, and not as an M&A advisory shop," he said. If sultancy in payments technology and fintech for the lead-
he were to rank the company's milestones in order of im- ing edge of founders and innovators in the lower-middle
portance, he noted, he would say establishing Wellesley and micro-end of the market," he said. "Our management
Hills Financial and Wellesley Hills Securities in roughly team is strongly aligned with the longer-term goal of val-
18 months in the middle of the pandemic, and becoming ue creation, and we believe if we continue to execute at
profitable in the first year, were notable achievements. a high level and continue to earn the trust of more and
more founders, our aim will be realized."

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