Nook Closes Investment Round Backed by Three Credit Unions, Including Gulf Winds

Wayzata, Minn. — Nook, a credit union service organization (CUSO) focused on data integration and member engagement, announced a fully subscribed investment round backed by Gulf Winds Credit Union, Great Lakes Credit Union and Dort Financial Credit Union. The round, which Nook says was oversubscribed relative to its original allocation, will support continued development of integrations, HubSpot capabilities and services tailored to credit unions.

“Credit unions should have a voice in the infrastructure that will support their relationships with members for years to come,” said Austin Wentzlaff, Co‑Founder and CEO of Nook. “Gulf Winds, Great Lakes, and Dort Financial each recognized the opportunity in what Nook is building. Their investment reflects confidence in our team, the technology we’re building and a shared belief that credit unions can shape stronger capabilities for the industry.”

Deal context and investor rationale

The three credit unions joining as investors—Gulf Winds Credit Union, Great Lakes Credit Union and Dort Financial Credit Union—bring both capital and operational perspective to Nook’s product roadmap. Gulf Winds, the newest investor, framed its decision as a data-driven move to improve member experiences. “Credit unions can deliver more personal, relevant experiences when they have access to the right data,” said Daniel Souers, President and CEO of Gulf Winds Credit Union. “I’ve seen Nook’s technology firsthand. We chose to invest in them because we believe in how they build data foundations needed to help marketers put ideas into action and strengthen member relationships.”

The deal underscores a broader industry push to centralize disparate member information. Nook’s core offering connects data from multiple credit union systems into HubSpot to enable coordinated engagement across the member lifecycle. Nook is also a Platinum HubSpot Solutions Partner, positioning it to build out automation and marketer-friendly workflows for credit unions.

Product traction and technical integrations

Over the past year Nook reported client growth of 200% and completed HubSpot integrations across four core banking systems: Symitar Episys, Corelation Keystone, Fiserv XP2 and Fiserv‑Portico. The company said additional integrations are in development, including Fiserv‑DNA. Beyond core systems, Nook has expanded the range of data sources it consolidates into a single contact record, listing integrations with:

• Velera
• Candescent
• Enrich
• SavvyMoney
• Three leading predictive analytics providers

These connections aim to give credit unions a more complete, actionable view of each member to enable personalization, improved targeting and activation of data inside HubSpot.

Outlook and next steps

With the round closed and notable investor demand beyond the allocation, Nook said it plans to move quickly toward a next funding round to allow additional investors to participate in its growth. The company will continue to prioritize expanding integrations and HubSpot capabilities while leveraging credit union ownership to ensure solutions align with industry workflows.

Investor credit unions also stand to gain through ownership: Gulf Winds (soon to become TruWorth Credit Union) operates 12 branches, serves more than 75,000 members and holds about $1.3 billion in assets; Great Lakes represents roughly 100,000 members and $1.4 billion in assets across Chicagoland, Central Illinois and Western Indiana; Dort Financial serves more than 103,000 members with over $2 billion in assets and 11 locations.