Where VCs are investing in fintech – Q2 2016 edition
[podcast] Susquehanna Growth Equities’ Amir Goldman on investing in fintech
Raining on the fintech parade: What does fintech investing look like without Asia?
[podcast] Investing in growth-stage fintech with Long Ridge’s Kevin Bhatt
[podcast] Thiel Capital’s Phin Upham on investing in tomorrow’s financial giants
3 key pieces of advice to build a fintech startup from a leading investor
The Startups: Who’s shaking things up (Week ending March 20, 2016)
The Startups: Who’s shaking things up (Week ending February 21, 2016)
[podcast] Why Foundation Capital’s Charles Moldow invests in B2C fintech companies
Last week, we had Caribou Honig of QED Investors on the podcast and I said that his portfolio is one of the strongest in fintech. If I had to name the top investors in the next generation of finance companies, Charles Moldow of Foundation Capital would definitely be near the top of the list, as well. Charles joins us this week on the Tradestreaming Podcast to talk about his thesis behind why he likes to invest in a trillion dollar industry that, in his words, “doesn’t do a great job servicing its customer base”.
His white paper, A Trillion Dollar Market By the People, For the People is essential reading for anyone who wants to know about the marketplace lending space: its size, structure, and potential. We’ll include a link in the show notes to it. His current portfolio includes auxmoney, BTCJam, Finxera (formerly Bancbox), LendingClub [IPO 12/11/14], Lending Home, Motif Investing, and On Deck Capital [IPO 12/17/14].
I think you’ll find my conversation with Charles to be thought-provoking — pay attention to why he prefers to build standalone B2C finance companies as opposed to firms that partner and sell into incumbent financial institutions. Contrarian and a very interesting point.
Listen to the FULL episode
In this episode, Charles shares:
- his thesis on why he likes to invest in early stage fintech
- why fintech has been relatively off the radar screen for many venture capitalists
- his preference building B2C companies in the financial services space and why B2B firms have a hard go at it
- how his white paper changed how we view peer to peer lending by renaming it the marketplace lending industry
- why he turned down investing in Lending Club when he first met them in 2009 and why pulled the trigger in 2010 and invested
- the struggles of matching supply and demand for a consumer financial marketplace
- the challenges originally faced by OnDeck Capital and how the company solved them
- the opportunity to market to millennials and the challenge the generation (with rising debt and weak wages) poses for financial firms
- his view on the heating up of valuations in the fintech space
- his firm’s interest in insurance and why it could be an exciting, investable space
More Resources
- Foundation Capital (Charles’ firm)
EVEN MORE RESOURCES
[podcast] QED Investors’ Caribou Honig on investing in today’s early stage fintech
Our guest for this episode is Caribou Honig, a founding partner of QED Investors. QED has quietly become one of the top investors in the financial technology space — their investment portfolio includes early big successes like SoFi and Prosper and also firms like LendUp, borro, Orchard, Avant Credit, blooom, and ApplePie Capital.
As part of our conversation, Caribou shares his personal path to how he ended up as part of the founding team of QED after a post-MBA career at Capital One where he developed a passion for data-driven marketing,, including responsibility for a $50 mm marketing budget, management of a 200 person underwriting operation, and cracking the code on digital credit card origination. This experience, along with his co-founders which include the founder of Capital One, provides a differentiator for the investment firm when it comes to deal flow and portfolio building.
In this episode, Caribou shares his views on:
- his background running data-driven marketing at CapitalOne and how this impacts his firm’s approach to investing in early stage fintech
- why “data-first” strategies are more likely to win
- hist team’s 150 years of experience in consumer lending market and why it’s such an exciting sector right now
- current trends in the financial technology space
- how incumbent financial institutions view startups in the space
- how these larger financial firms are planning for their futures
- QED’s investment mandate and the types of fintech companies that fit well into the investment firm’s sweet spot
- the companies in his portfolio and the investment thesis behind them
- lastly, we’ll talk about where Caribou is looking to make investments in the future.
Listen to the FULL episode
More Resources
- QED Investors (Caribou’s firm)