Delaware loses 224K on Maverick deal

Maverick Network Solutions, a prepaid card provider of Brandywine Hundred, was sold last week to financial services vendor Fiserv -- and the state managed to lose $224,000 in the deal.

Between December 2008 and October 2009, an equity investment fund run by the Delaware Economic Development Office invested $370,000 into Maverick and took an ownership stake. Financial terms of the Fiserv deal were not disclosed. But the state cleared only $145,860.82 from the sale, a DEDO spokeswoman confirmed today. DEDO has since gotten out of the venture business -- though it still hands out money to businesses in the form of loans and grants that are often tied to employment targets.

Maverick provides private-label debit cards for retailers, as well as re-loadable incentive cards to employers. Wilmington-based venture capital fund Innovation Ventures was also an investor in Maverick.