Exhibit 99.1

INDEPENDENCE BANCSHARES ANNOUNCES CLOSING OF

PRIVATE PLACEMENT OFFERING

Greenville, South Carolina, January 7, 2013: Independence Bancshares, Inc. (OTC: IEBS) (the “Company”), the holding company for Independence National Bank (the "Bank"), announced the closing on December 31, 2012 of a private placement offering in which it issued 17,648,750 shares of common stock at a price of $0.80 per share for gross proceeds of $14.1 million.  Hovde Securities, LLC was the exclusive placement agent for the offering.

Lawrence R. Miller, President and CEO of the Bank, noted, "We believe raising capital in this offering will help us to improve our capital levels in excess of regulatory requirements and better position the Bank to expand its business into higher growth opportunities that are designed to deliver more consistent earnings going forward."

In connection with the closing of the offering, the Board of Directors of the Company announced the appointment of Gordon A. Baird as the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer and as a director of the Company effective December 31, 2012.  Mr. Baird has had an extensive career in banking and financial services, as well as in building new financial services businesses.  Mr. Baird began his career at John Hancock Real Estate Finance in 1990, continuing with State Street Bank and Trust Company and Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. He has extensive experience in bank regulatory issues and payments, technology, consumer finance and capital markets.  

Mr. Miller, who had served as the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer since the Company's formation, will step down from these roles but will continue as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank.  H. Neel Hipp, Jr., Chairman of the Board of the Company and the Bank, stated that "Mr. Miller has been instrumental in helping us to complete this capital raise and will continue to focus on strengthening a platform to provide full-service traditional community banking services in the Greenville, South Carolina and contiguous markets.  We look forward to many more years together as Mr. Miller continues as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank."

About Independence Bancshares, Inc. and Independence National Bank

Independence Bancshares, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina.  It owns and controls all of the capital stock of its sole subsidiary, Independence National Bank, a nationally chartered bank.  Independence National Bank is proud to be a bank located in Greenville, South Carolina. Since opening for business in May, 2005, we have been providing a complete banking line of business including consumer finance, business banking and merchant services.  Our goal is to continue to deliver services that provide exceptional value to the community we serve.