A new subsidiary, leadership changes and construction were part of Live Oak Bancshares’ year, marking the company’s continued growth and influence in Wilmington’s fintech industry.

In February, Live Oak Bancshares launched Canapi Inc., formerly known as Live Oak Ventures.

Canapi invests in companies that supply banks and credit unions with innovative technology, Neil Underwood, Canapi’s managing director, said in a February news release.

Canapi has the mission to partner with and invest in companies that provide new platforms for the banking industry, according to the release.

One Canapi Inc. partner includes Woodforest National Bank, a Texas-based bank that has some of its branches located inside Walmart stores.

A few weeks later after its launch announcement, Canapi stated it was investing in Greenlight Financial Technology Inc., a fintech company that created a smart debit card for kids, teens and college students, according to a Feb. 21 news release.

Another Live Oak Bancshares company, Live Oak Bank, was in the news with its announcement of a new bank president.

Live Oak Bancshares named Huntley Garriott president of Live Oak Bank in April. Garriott succeeded Scott Custer, who remained with the company until Nov. 30 to join a community bank startup.

Garriott was a partner at Goldman Sachs in its Investment Banking Division in New York City.

With its new leadership, Live Oak Bank announced in November that it is expanding its lending services by providing loans for commercial real estate projects.

It is also providing conventional asset-based lending products to small- and medium-sized businesses as well as adding Mike Shepston as a senior loan officer in the General Small Business Administration Lending Team.

This year Live Oak Bancshares moved ahead with operations of its venture, Apiture. The software company is a joint venture between Live Oak Bancshares and First Data, an Atlanta-based company focusing on payment processing.

Apiture opened its downtown Wilmington headquarters in February and launched two banking features in August.

The features, My Spending and Spendable Balance, are banking tools that give banks new ways for delivering expenditure and banking data, so customers can make informed decisions.

Apiture announced in October that SunTrust Banks Inc. invested in the company, which would allow “the open API-banking platform to further develop and accelerate its product roadmap,” states a news release.

As Live Oak Bank continues to evolve past its initial SBA-lender roots, one of its new projects was the launch in September of Live Oak Private Wealth, a wealth management arm that operates as a subsidiary.

Meanwhile, Live Oak also continued construction on its Wilmington campus at 1741 Tiburon Drive.

Construction was completed at its $16 million, two-story parking garage that holds 600 parking spaces.

Live Oak is building an 18,000-square-foot fitness center for its employees expected to be completed in the spring and a 64,000-square-foot four-story Building 3 that is scheduled to be completed in the summer.

The Business Journal previously reported that company officials are in talks for plans on Building 4, which would cost $500,000 for its plan and design and about $20 million for its construction cost.

For a list of the Top 10 local business stories of the year, click here.