HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBC  ) is reportedly planning to recruit about 50 more bankers in its U.S. commercial bank to lend to startup companies, mainly in the technology and healthcare sectors.

The bank hired about 40 people from Silicon Valley Bank after the latter lender failed a year ago, reported Reuters.

HSBC's innovation banking business now has around 60 employees and is aiming to serve early- and mid-stage companies, as per the report.

Wyatt Crowell, head of U.S. commercial banking at HSBC, told Reuters, "There's this void in the market and we're jumping into it. It's gone way better than I thought it was going to go, both in terms of the volume of deals and our win rate on the deals."

Crowell disclosed that HSBC has signed up about 250 companies as clients for the venture lending business, closing 35 lending deals and inking 30 term sheets with clients for an average deal size of $15 million.

Last month, HSBC reported the fourth-quarter FY23 revenue decline of 11% Y/Y to $13.021 billion as NII fell 7% Y/Y to $8.28 billion, impacted by notable items of $(2.7) billion booked in the quarter.

Price Action: HSBC shares are down 0.76% at $37.15 on the last check Monday.