- Forward look: Barwick Bank will consider acquisitions once it receives a $50 million capital infusion from a newly formed venture capital firm.
- Expert quote: "We're certainly hearing in some of these smaller towns and suburbs that they miss their community bank, really need it, need someone that they can bank with, talk to and get things done," said Barwick CEO Chad Bowling.
- Key insight: Barwick has grown from a single branch and $13 million of assets in 2020 to six branches and more than $640 million today.
A Georgia-based community bank is planning to kick its expansion program into high gear with $50 million of growth capital from a new venture capital platform that focuses on the financial services sector.
The investment in Barwick Banking Co., expected to close by year end, would be the first by Coastal Ventures. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based firm was created earlier this year by veteran investors Ryan Hanks and Greg Meerbaum.
Both Meerbaum, CEO of Coastal Investments in Winter Park, Florida, and Hanks, founder and CEO of the Charlotte-based Madison Capital Group, have invested primarily in real estate. Coastal Ventures has a broader mandate, seeking to partner with operating companies — including banks — that demonstrate strong fundamentals and expansion potential.
The $642 million-asset Barwick has grown rapidly since CEO Chad Bowling led a group that acquired it in 2020. At that time, the 118-year-old institution had a single branch in Barwick, Georgia, and just $13 million of assets. Under Bowling's leadership, it's opened a second branch in Georgia, along with four in Florida.
"We've experienced some pretty good growth the past five years," Bowling told American Banker. "We've expanded in South Georgia and into Florida in some markets where we're very comfortable and have a lot of experience and clients."
Barwick plans to enter Chiefland, Florida, early in 2026 and is seeking additional opportunities in communities where hometown banks have disappeared as a result of industry consolidation. Chiefland's last locally based bank
"We're certainly hearing in some of these smaller towns and suburbs that they miss their community bank, really need it, need someone that they can bank with, talk to and get things done — especially the small businesses," Bowling said.
"There's a lot of stable, long-term, generational-type businesses in these markets," Bowling added. "They really want to work with someone who they're running into at the grocery store, who's in the market and can make a decision."
The infusion of money from Coastal would give Barwick plenty of capital to fund more new branches, as well as potential acquisitions, according to Bowling.
"We've been able to raise a good amount of capital over the past five years, but this opportunity with Coastal is tremendous, to where we could go after some M&A activity or organic growth with the right bankers," Bowling said.
For its part, Coastal was attracted to Barwick's recent growth, as well as its long pedigree as a community financial institution. "It's rare to invest in something as secure as an established bank while also capturing significant growth potential," Meerbaum said in a press release.
Barwick lost money in 2020 and 2021 as Bowling and his team upgraded its technology infrastructure and began opening branches. The bank broke even in 2022 and has seen profits grow steadily since. Net income totaled $3.3 million in 2024 and $1.8 million through the first six months of 2025.
Barwick operates with a decentralized business model, where market leaders possess significant autonomy. "They operate like it's their own small business," Bowling said. "They have their own balance sheets, and they make most of the decisions. … They're the face of the bank in that market."
Meerbaum and Hanks launched Coastal Ventures with the aim of giving high-net-worth individual investors access to transactions typically dominated by institutional capital.
"It allows us to bring forward deal flow on par with the largest institutional firms, giving our investors access to opportunities that are rarely available in the broader market," Hanks said in the press release.
