Investors include Black Dragon Capital, Advantage Capital Connecticut Partners and the Department of Economic and Community Development for the State of Connecticut responsible for strengthening the state's competitive position in the rapidly-changing, knowledge-based global economy. The investment will be used to support the company's rapid growth, accelerate its fast-growing customer base and assist with the expansion and development of new products and services.

"We have brought together a deep bench of highly regarded industry experts who led the transformation of core in the community financial technology space and understand the desperate need for a company like Fortress," said David Mitchell, President of Fortress Risk Management. "The old way of doing things is no longer viable. As emerging threats and fraud continue to evolve, Fortress Risk Management acclimates to the changing environment and truly serves the needs of our community banks and credit unions by staying one step ahead and continually innovating our solutions to be dynamic and agile."

Fortress Risk Management has built a world-class team of industry experts focused on solving the significant problem of fraud and financial crime plaguing community banks and credit unions, comprised of Todd Harbison, Chief Product Officer; Mike Faulkner, Chief Operating Officer; and Lou Bastone, Chief Technology Officer. The industry's top senior experts on financial crime in community banking round out the full executive team: John Ravita, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships; and Mark Gadzik, Executive Vice President, Partnership Delivery.

"Credit Unions and community banks are the foundation of Main Street business, and every day financial criminals are finding new ways to infiltrate their systems," said Chairman Sam McKay of Axiom Venture Advisors. "From the key executive team that founded and built Open Solutions, which revolutionized the way that financial service organizations use technology, we now have Fortress Risk Management, which is at the forefront of providing the tools financial institutions need to guard against crime and fraud. They are positioning themselves once again to disrupt the industry by creating an entirely new way to address these issues. I, through Axiom, invested in Open Solutions and now I have the pleasure of investing in and watching Fortress achieve a similar success for its clients."

Fortress offers a comprehensive suite of solutions built on a single platform designed so that banks and credit unions can tailor solutions to protect their institutions from financial crime, including:

• AMLWatch – Anti-money laundering and BSA monitoring and compliance solutions

• PayWatch – ACH, wire, P2P, and bill pay fraud prevention and detection solutions

• CheckWatch – Paper check fraud detection and prevention solutions

• Card Watch – Credit, debit, and prepaid fraud prevention and detection solutions

• InsiderWatch – Fraud solutions specifically designed to mitigate risk from employees committing fraud within the bank

• DisputeManager – An automated complete dispute processing solution for managing any dispute, while providing a dynamic workflow, and delivering efficient processing and accurate resolution of disputes

• Fortress Insight – A dedicated, skilled unit that works 24x7x365 to provide a range of customizable services including fraud monitoring, assessments, regulatory compliance, fraud dispositions, internal training and communication, and more, all while substantially reducing overhead costs