- Closure Announcement: Totem Technologies, a neobank founded in 2022 to serve Native Americans, announced it is shutting down. The news was shared by founder and CEO Amber Buker on LinkedIn.
- Mission and Impact: Totem aimed to improve financial wellness and banking access for Native Americans. Over two years, it reached over 500 customers from more than 70 different tribal nations.
- Services Provided: Totem offered current accounts with no minimum balances or monthly fees, as well as educational resources to boost financial literacy within the Native American community.
- Business Model: The neobank focused on building an ethical business model to serve “risky” or “niche” populations by addressing broader community needs, such as payments and other value-added services.
- Challenges: Buker noted that serving Indian Country requires building trust at a slower pace than what is typically expected by venture-backed companies, which contributed to the decision to close.
- Funding and Launch: Totem launched its app in July 2023, after securing $2.2 million in pre-seed funding in December 2022, led by Raven Indigenous Capital Partners. Additional support came from Alloy Alchemist Fund, Debut Capital, Ruthless for Good, Candide Group, and a $125,000 grant from Amazon Web Services.
