GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—The cuasterisk.com network of CUSOs has announced the creation of Variable Ventures.
Variable Ventures is an exciting proof of concept, taking the power of network design and collaborative dynamics to a new level of incubation for innovation development and investment, the company said.
Variable Ventures said it has engaged industry veteran, Vic Pantea, to participate in transitioning the consortium into a company, and to leverage his experience at the collaborative credit union incubator, Member Gateways.
At their organizational meeting the investors of Variable Ventures elected Bret Weekes, CEO of eDOC Innovations, as chairman; Leo Vaulin, CEO of CU*South as Vice Chairman, and Liz Winninger, CEO of Xtend, as Secretary. Other board members include Randy Karnes, CEO of CU*Answers; Greg Smith, CEO of CU*NorthWest, and Peter Barnard, CEO of rkGoBig.
The objective of Variable Ventures is to inspire investment innovation through a community of collaborative owners beyond the existing cuasterisk.com network partners, the organization said.
“We believe that through our experience we can welcome other credit union visionaries, entrepreneurs and investors,” commented Weekes. “Our objective is to build a community of citizens who will empower the creation of new solutions to expand and better meet the needs of credit unions and their owner members.”
The company said current initiatives include investigating examination innovation, emerging blockchain technologies, new CUSOs, and more. Ideas are advanced to incubation based on three primary criteria: value to individual credit union owners (i.e. members); value to the cuasterisk.com network of credit unions; and value to the credit union industry as a whole.