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.