Discover Financial Services

QED is the premier VC in the fintech space. We are operators well regarded for our expertise, engagement, and empathy. We invest in businesses that disrupt and empower. Fintech is about leveraging the best aspects of technology – mobile adaptation, optimising data, agile tech build, and heightening rapid learning – to make financial services better for consumers – through driving adoption, reducing friction, and creating transparency. Fintech is doing all of this rapidly, cheaply, and in modular/flexible form. But at its core, it’s about solving a problem for a user. Our Philosophy On their own, small hurdles are often easy to overcome. But stacked together, many small hurdles can present an overwhelming challenge, even for the best founder. We call this .8^5. It’s our job to help companies improve their chances of success. Back to Basics If you know anything about us, you will know we are fanatically focused on unit economics. Curious about the other principles we hold near and dear? Our Investment Criteria We invest in early-stage, disruptive financial services companies in the U.S., U.K. and Latin America. Our initial investment size typically is around $5M with significant reserves for follow-on. We keenly focus on talent. To build conviction around an investment, the company must have amazing leadership. This means that management is balanced and transparent, open to advice, and focused on unit economics. After all, Fintech is hard and we strive to work with CEOs who innately understand this. Founders who think they know all the answers are subject to stumble. We focus on companies who are unrelenting. Fintechs need to push through constant challenges in order to be true disruptors. The business must solve a real problem or create a palpable benefit for the user.Beware of technology zealots in search of a problem to solve. We are customer first in our thinking. The business must be thoughtful about managing opportunity and risk. Solving a narrower problem well is less risky, but often has less upside, than solving a bigger problem with a larger TAM. QEDis also hypothesis driven. We develop hypotheses, evaluate the universe of companies in the space, and apply full-court press to convert the best we can find. If we don’t reach a deal with a company we believe in, or if we don’t find one, we test further. Sometimes we will build it ourselves or assemble a team to build it and fund them from day zero. In that case, we tap into theCapital One diaspora – a now global network of industry leading business-builders with expertise in all aspects of financial services. We have had great success doing this through our Belay platform, building companies such as ClearScore, Wagestream, minu, MotoRefi, and two other companies that will be announced later this year, and we have scores of ideas in the pipeline.

That is how we approach, attract and build with best-in-class entrepreneurs in their respective fields of the startup ecosystem. Phoenix’s DNA is the culmination of Mr. Henry Nguyen - its founder’s long history in both traditional finance and high-tech ventures. Phoenix covers the entire financial services value chain, including a commercial bank, a consumer finance company, an asset management company, a securities brokerage and more. These licensed "Brick & Mortar" businesses all operate under their own professional management teams and are heavily focused on growing in their respective segments. This "traditional" side of the business is complemented with tech-backed ventures including a Digital Bank, a BNPL, a Payment Company, a Micro SME Lending Company, a P2P Lending Company as well as a wide range of other companies within the Phoenix ecosystem. In short, we believe Vietnam’s billion-dollar opportunity to be less in pure disruption through Fintech and more in the convergence of Fintech and conventional finance, underpinned by being fully licensed with regulatory compliance. Aside from the previously mentioned businesses in the financial sector, our portfolio includes business in F&B/Consumer as well (McDonald’s). Some of our tech-backed ventures include Timo (Digital Bank), Kredivo Vietnam (BNPL), Moca (Payment Company) and Interloan (P2P Lending Platform).

We invest in high-growth private fintech companies across Europe, typically at Series A and beyond How we add value We partner with exceptional fintech teams, working closely with them to accelerate their growth. Entrepreneurial DNA We have sat on the other side of the fence, building fintech businesses over several decades as well as investing in them. When you need an external perspective, we will be there. Future fundraising Patient capital is at the core of our business. We work closely with portfolio teams over the long term and support on areas from pitch advice to investor introductions. Connections Our team has a wide, deep, relevant network across the fintech sector and beyond. We want to help open doors for you, whether that might be for talent, business development or future fundraising. Fintech founders Our specialist investment platform and experienced team with 100+ years' experience have been built to identify and invest in outstanding private fintech businesses at early stages, ahead of significant potential growth. Offering rare exposure As early investors we participate in the shareholder value creation that the scaling of our portfolio companies generates while they are still private and offer public market investors rare exposure to these growth journeys in fintech. To a diversified portfolio Our current portfolio of 24 high potential private fintech companies is diversified across the fintech ecosystem and stages of maturity, generating a pipeline of exit opportunities with depth. Investments include Tide, Zopa, Grover, Onfido and Monese. And a strong pipeline We are excited about the journey that lies ahead with our existing portfolio and have strong additional opportunities under active development in our pipeline.

We partner with phenomenal entrepreneurs who have the vision and drive to reinvent financial services, investing from the earliest seeds of startup life to businesses scaling for growth. We support leading companies across all sectors of financial services, including lending, credit & banking, payments, insurance, capital markets & investments, personal finance, enterprise financial stack and real estate finance. Our distinctive approach to fintech venture capital is crafted around a curated network of global macroeconomic thinkers and investors. Launched in 2015, Clocktower Ventures is the technology investing affiliate of Clocktower Group, a global macro investment firm. We are based in Santa Monica, CA and invest worldwide.

Nyca Partners is a venture capital firm exclusively focused on applying innovation in financial services to the global financial system. Our rich experience and deep connections in both finance and technology give us a unique perspective and facility to help entrepreneurs transform payments, credit models, digital advice, and financial infrastructure. Our portfolio companies greatly value our advice and assistance in building the leading FinTech companies, and since our founding in 2013 we have invested in more than 80 such companies including Affirm, Acorns, Gemini, Ladder, Payoneer, Propel, Thought Machine, and Treasury Prime. We also have what we believe is the leading group of limited partner advisors who are experts in all aspects of financial services technology and entrepreneurship.

The Internet has reached in, grabbed, and made the world we once knew totally unrecognizable. Yet the world of finance is, sadly, totally recognizable. The way we transact, save, borrow, invest and manage our money has barely advanced. Yes, there has been some recent innovation– we’re proud to have invested behind many of the intrepid entrepreneurs who are leading the charge – but it is far from enough. In short, we are still at the beginning of the beginning. Case in point: less than 1% of all loans in the world are made online. (Yeah, you heard us right). We’re all stuck in a financial time warp. And just like newspapers, travel agents, hotels and taxi companies have been turned upside down from outside the cozy confines of their industries, don’t expect banks to lead us out of the warp. They’ve proven themselves either unable to create internal environments where innovation can flourish – or simply unwilling to change even though it’s best for their customers. Ribbit Capital is a global investment organization with one single, relentless mission: to change the world of finance. When we look back at our mantra from the day we launched in 2012, the beliefs and values motivating our mission have not changed. This we believe:We believe the unstoppable movement of consumers and business owners to mobile will resound in financial services for decades to come. We believe change favors new entrants and their new brands. We believe that legacy players will lag and sputter. We believe consumers are ready to be inspired. Over the past few years, our convictions have deepened. We have invested in visionary entrepreneurs who are also hard-headed pragmatists. We’ve given them support, guidance, and running room. And we’ve watched with awe as they have begun to reshape the financial world. Our goal isn’t just to write checks. It’s to deposit and grow ideas. We look at finance with a hungry eye for change, and with a desire to share our learning and experience – including some painful mistakes along the way –with ambitious entrepreneurs. When they succeed, they will create the next JP Morgans, Citibanks and Schwabs - tomorrow’s enduring brands. “Our goal isn’t just to write checks. It’s to deposit ideas.” For us, the passion is also personal: we have lived through hyperinflation in two countries, started innovative financial services businesses on three continents, and been regulated by seven governments. Since launching Ribbit, we have invested behind entrepreneurs in ten different countries who are providing financial services to customers in nearly every major city on earth. We invest this broadly because the tectonic shifts we are funding are deep and global. Millions who are joyfully stepping into the middle class now have opportunity to interact with the formal financial system for the first time. Consumers everywhere are waiting expectantly – and often with mounting frustration – for financial services providers to finally bring them true efficiency, transparency, and radical simplicity. The next generation of consumers has about as much patience for Big Finance as they do for Big Anything. Driven by this, we will help create and nurture a thriving, bustling new world in lending, personal finance, insurance, financial software, bitcoin, and more. The technology is here - the Internet, social networks, smart phones, electronic payment systems, and massive processing power in the cloud. The ideas are here as well. What’s in short supply is the investment focus, support, and partnership to accelerate their success. It takes money to change money.