According to Bloomberg Business, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic in 2023 unleashed a wave of business and talent that lenders are still scrambling to capture. A record $222 billion in venture funding poured into AI last year, padding valuations and creating a massive new wealth management opportunity. Banks like JPMorgan Chase, Citizens Financial, and Stifel Financial have aggressively hired from the failed banks, with Stifel’s venture banking deposits nearly doubling to $7.7 billion. Citizens hired about 150 ex-First Republic employees, while JPMorgan capitalized on its acquisition of First Republic to target affluent clients. Flagstar Bank also acquired part of Signature and hired First Republic teams, though it later faced turnover. The battle is hottest in San Francisco, which saw about $47 billion in venture funding in 2025.
Banking on the AI Boom
Here’s the thing: the AI explosion isn’t just about software and chips. It’s creating a whole new class of customers for banks—founders and early employees sitting on paper wealth that will eventually need managing. Banks aren’t just waiting for the IPO cash-out anymore. They’re trying to get in the door during the “pre-IPO phase,” as Citizens CEO Bruce Van Saun put it, developing products for people who are rich on paper but lack liquidity. It’s a long game. The real payday is later: managing that wealth, providing debt, or advising on the eventual exit. As Stifel’s Jake Moseley, who joined from SVB, noted, the secondary angle of founders taking money off the table “absolutely creates a wealth management opportunity.” They’re planting flags now for a harvest that might be years away.
The Talent War and Integration Headaches
So banks went on a hiring spree, grabbing whole teams from the collapsed lenders. But integrating a fast-moving, startup-focused culture into a traditional, risk-averse bank? It’s not easy. Flagstar’s experience shows the volatility. They hired over 100 people from First Republic, but then lost more than a dozen to a competitor and saw a team leave to start their own firm, Graintree Lending Partners. It’s a messy, competitive talent market. As Flagstar’s new hire Mark Pittsey said, hiring from these banks before March 2023 was “nearly impossible.” Now, those bankers are in high demand, and they’re not afraid to move again if the fit isn’t right. The banks that win will be the ones that can actually give these teams the flexibility and appetite for risk they’re used to.
A Fragmented Future for Startup Banking
The biggest lasting impact of the 2023 crisis might be the end of the one-bank-fits-all model for startups. The SVB collapse was a brutal lesson in concentration risk. Now, firms like Better Tomorrow Ventures deliberately spread their banking across multiple institutions, including JPMorgan, Citizens, and fintechs like Mercury. Mercury itself saw a $2 billion deposit bump post-SVB and held onto 97% of those new customers. This diversification is a permanent shift. Startups and VCs are now forced to think about their banking stack with the same scrutiny as their tech stack. Is your bank a “fortress” like JPMorgan? Or a nimble specialist? The answer, now, is that you probably need both. This fragmentation actually creates more opportunity for specialized players, whether it’s a big bank’s innovation arm or a focused fintech.
The Early Bird Strategy
With so much equity sloshing around in AI, many startups don’t even need bank loans right now. So why the frenzy? Basically, it’s all about being the “first call.” Banks want to be embedded in the ecosystem early—through law firms, advisers, any channel possible. As Stifel Bank CEO Chris Reichert said, “We’re interacting with these folks at the very earliest stages.” They’re betting that being a helpful resource today means winning the lucrative IPO or acquisition mandate tomorrow. And regulators are making it slightly easier, with the OCC rescinding guidance that curbed venture lending. The playbook is clear: get in early, provide value (even if it’s not a loan), and build trust. Because when the AI wealth does materialize, the bank that helped from the garage phase will have a massive advantage. It’s a high-stakes relationship game, and the table stakes have never been higher.
