Founded in 2008 by James S. (Chip) Mahan III, Live Oak initially focused on lending to niche industries such as veterinarians and dentists. Today, the bank lends to more than 35 specialized industries in all 50 states and has more than a dozen general lenders in markets across the country that directly serve small business owners. The bank specializes in
SBA and
USDA loans and offers business and personal deposit products on its branchless, digital platform. In 2017, Live Oak Bank established an office in Washington, D.C. to handle the company’s loans in the fields of renewable energy and government contracting. Live Oak also announced a joint venture with the payment technology company First Data in October 2017, which became the joint company Apiture. In 2018, Live Oak Bank signed its first partnership with cloud-based core banking software company Finxact. By 2020, Live Oak was using the Finxact platform for its loan origination processes. Huntley Garriott was appointed president of Live Oak Bank in September 2019 after he left his position as a partner at Goldman Sachs & Co. Live Oak Bank established a satellite office at the N.C. State University Centennial Campus in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2020. The new office was established to house Live Oak Labs, the company’s technology unit. In the same year, Live Oak announced plans to build a small business center named Channel in downtown Wilmington. Live Oak hired Kevin Doyle as its VP of small business lending in 2021. On June 7, 2021, former
Ally Financial chief digital officer Renato Derraik also joined Live Oak as its chief information and digital officer. Former
First Horizon Bank CFO William "B.J." Losch also joined Live Oak as its CFO. Live Oak Bank established offices in Dallas in 2022. In 2022, Live Oak Bank also launched Tidal Small Business Checking, its first small business checking product. In December 2022, Live Oak Bank transferred stock from Nasdaq and began trading on the NYSE under its current ticker symbol, LOB. Live Oak Ventures, the investing arm of Live Oak Bancshares, has made investments in various companies that align with its investment thesis including Pharmacy Marketplace, Finxact, Asset Class, Uplinq In August 2023, “BJ” Losch, the company’s chief financial officer became the president replacing Huntley Garriott. Live Oak currently operates as a branchless bank, only doing business with clients online. • 2015 – Live Oak Bank files for its initial public offering (Nasdaq: LOB). • 2015 – Launch of Digital Bank • 2017-2020 – Named the number one
SBA 7(a) lender in the country • 2017 – Apiture was founded in a joint venture with First Data and is part of Live Oak’s
fintech ecosystem. • 2018 – Business model shifts to holding loans • 2019 – Live Oak is named the highest dollar volume
USDA lender in the country • 2019 - $10.95 billion originated • 2020 – Canapi Venture launches $545 million fintech investment fund • 2020 – Live Oak Bank goes live on Finxact core ==Subsidiaries==