In 2014, the value of investment in U.S. financial technology companies was approximately $3.97 billion, which in reality shouldn’t be all that shocking. The “fintech” industry is booming right now.
I’m in the fintech space with my startup Due.com. Over the past three months I’ve started networking to find out from entrepreneurs around the globe who are the top fintech venture capitalists. Here are 32 VCs, individuals and companies, that every startup looking for strategic fintech investors should know.
Sequoia
Sequoia has a long history of financing start-ups with an emphasis on first generation entrepreneurs and recent immigrants to the United States. Some of the more notable start-ups they have financed include Apple, Instagram and Kayak.
Matt Harris
Matt Harris is an investor interested in seeing non-financial institutions gain opportunities in the traditional financial industry. Harris is the co-founder and the managing general partner of Village Ventures. He has made significant investments in Blue Tarp, Consumer United and iSend.
Related: 10 CEOs Who Are Disrupting Finance With Technology
Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital has made 349 investments in 184 companies. They specialize in local and cloud companies, along with social media ventures. Duo Security, Vessel and PlayFab are among the many startups that have been helped by Benchmark Capital.
Barclays Accelerator
Barclays Accelerator is a 13-week program that offers startups mentoring and coaching by industry leaders. The new businesses may present their business concepts at Barclays Demo Day and are given the opportunity interact with Techstars and Barclays’ networks. Startups are considered lifelong Barclays alumni upon completion of the accelerator program.
Dave McClure
A man who needs no introduction, Dave McClure is founder of 500 Startups, a venture capital company that has invested in more than 995 companies in 45 nations. 500 Startups not only provides financial seed money, but offers business entrepreneurs mentorships with industry leaders.
Spring Lake Equity Partners
Spring Lake Equity Partners invests in privately owned technology companies with a good management that are ready to expand their business. Some of their investments include Fidelis Security System, Transwitch Corporation and Advanced Fibre Communication.
Jordan Angelos
Prior to becoming an investor at Accel Partners in 2013, Jordan Angelos covered the technology, media and telecom sectors for Goldman Sachs in the Global Leveraged Finance Group. Jordan primarily focuses on investment opportunities in internet, financial technology, and software / SaaS companies. He’s recently been involved with Accel’s investment in WorldRemit, which allows people to send money to their friends or family members living abroad.
Expansive Ventures
Jon Soberg, co-founder and managing partner at Expansive Ventures is someone to know in the fintech VC community. Before co-founding Expansive Ventures, he was the managing director at Blumberg Capital and played a key role leading a large portion of investments in fintech, including Trulioo, Addepar, Credorax, Kreditech, FeeX, Fundbox and Zanbato.
Harrison Miller
Harrison Miller joined Summit Partners in 1988 as an associate. He left to pursue a degree in business and was was the founding VP and GM of Platform Services for Amazon. In 2003, Harrison rejoined Summit and is currently their managing director. His current investments and board roles include Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Clearwater Analytics, Delphix, Gainsight and Uber.
Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel is co-author of Zero to One, Notes on Startups or How to Build the Future. The entrepreneur founded PayPal and has previously invested in several successful companies, including LinkedIn and Yelp.
Greenhill SAVP (Brian Hirsch)
Brian Hirsch, previously of Greenhill SAVP, is the founder and Managing partner of Tribeca Venture Partners.
Related: Is Bitcoin Speculative Foolery or a Financial Services Breakthrough?
Max Levchin
Max Levchin is the co-founder and CEO of Affirm. He also serves as the chairman of Glow. Both companies derived from Levchin’s HVF project that involves the concept of data-as-commodity.
Bessemer Venture Partners
Bessemer Venture Partners has invested in number of start-ups with a focus on cloud computing, cyber security and healthcare technology. Rob Stavis is a partner in the company’s New York office, where he focuses on the financial sector of venture capital.
Reid Hoffman
Reid Hoffman is an entrepreneur and product development strategist. He has worked in ecommerce with a focus on deal structuring and international marketing. He is currently the executive chairman of LinkedIn, which he also co-founder.
Sean Park of Anthemis Group.
Sean Park is the chairman and chief investment officer of the Anthemis Group. He has extensive experience in venture capital and investment banking and is the author of The Park Paradigm. Park is highly regarded as an innovative visionary in the venture capital industry.
Mike Bingle of Silver Lake Partners.
Mike Bingle is a managing partner and Managing Director of Silver Lake Partners. Silver Lake has over 20 billion dollars in assets and specializes in international technology investing. Their portfolio includes Dell, Locaweb, and Avago.
Jeff Clavier
Jeff Clavier is the founder and managing partner of Soft Tech VC. He was born and completed his education in France. He formed SoftTech in 2004 and the company has grown substantially under his leadership. Mint, Fitbit and Poshmark are included in their portfolio.
Warburg Pincus
Warburg Pincus was founded 45 years ago and specializes in private equity investing. They can support start-ups in all stages of development and provide services for established companies. The Warburg Pincus Foundation encourages social responsibility by supporting various community projects.
David O. Sacks
David O. Sacks is COO of Zenefits, a company that offers a vast array of human resources software. He was the founder of Yammer – which developed internal corporate communication systems.
Edison Ventures
Edison Ventures mainly focus on the growth stage of technology start-ups. They closely monitor this segment of the business world to learn of the latest innovations and the current conditions.
Albert Wenger
Albert Wenger is a partner at Union Square Ventures. Wenger was the president of del.icio and served as an angel investor for Etsy and Tumblr. He is a Harvard graduate who later earned a PhD in Information Technology from MIT.
Mike Petrzela
Mike Petrzela is managing director of Lightyear Capital, founded in 2000 and led by a management team with a combined 25 years of experience in investment banking. Lightyear focuses on buyouts and growth capital. It has the expertise and versatility to effectively act upon changes in the investment banking industry.
Rebecca Lynn
Rebecca Lynn was honored by being ranked 23rd on Forbes Midas list of Top 100 Technology Investors. Lynn has investment expertise in financial services, digital health and mobile devices. She is currently a general partner of the Canvas Venture Fund.
General Atlantic
General Atlantic follows the ideals of long-term investing and working to build value in a company over an extended length of time. Their portfolio includes Optionshouse, Alignment Healthcare and Vox Media.
Spark Capital
Spark Capital seeks creativity in the startups they select as investments. They value loyalty and honesty in their business dealings. Included in Spark Capital’s portfolio are coach.me, convert media and Lexity.
Martin Brand
Martin Brand is a senior managing Director for Blackstone’s private equity group. Brand has been instrumental in the growth of several Blackstone investments including Exeter Finance, PBF Energy and Accuvent.
Charles Moldow
Charles Moldow is a general partner of Foundation Capital. His investment interests are fintech, consumer tech solutions and martech start-ups. AdRoll, DogVacay and Lending Club are part of his portfolio.
Mark Goines
Mark Goines is the former VP of new products at Charles Schwab, as well as a former executive at Intuit and investor/board member for Mint.com and partner of Morgenthaler Ventures.
ACXIT Capital Partners
Acxit Capital Partners deals exclusively with startups in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Their portfolio includes AGS of India, Bellagio of China, and Acton SA of Africa.
Keith Rabois
Keith Rabois of Khosla Ventures is an investment executive and technology entrepreneur. He is noted in the investment finance industry for his focus on early start-up investments. Rabios held executive roles at LinkedIn, PayPal and Slide.
Related: VC 100: The Top Investors in Early-Stage Startups
Todd Morrissey
Todd Morrissey is a partner at LLR partners. He has 15 years of experience in the finance industry with specific interest in business and financial services. His portfolio includes Ultimus Fund Solution and Aasonn.
Roger Ehrenberg
Roger Ehrenberg is the founder and managing partner or IA Ventures. Prior to founding IA Ventures in 2009, Roger was an angel investor at IA Capital Partners where he focused on securing seed-stage investments for digital media and financial technology. He was also president and CEO of DB Advisors, LLC, which was Deutsche Bank’s hedge fund trading platform.
As the Fintech industry continues to grow, these are the VCs you want to keep an eye one. Their investments could shift the market drastically. Here’s to getting an investment from one of these top VCs in fintech!
Related: 4 Ways to Blow It When Pitching For Venture Capital
