The 2016 Fintech Finance 35: Jay Reinemann

2016-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-jay-reinemann-small.jpg

< Fintech’s Most Powerful Dealmakers of 2016

14. Jay Reinemann
Partner
Propel Venture Partners
Last year: 14

In a February restructuring, Spanish banking giant Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria shuttered its $100 million BBVA Ventures arm and relaunched it as a stand-alone spin-off, Propel Venture Partners. “It’s not your typical corporate venture fund,” says Jay Reinemann, who led BBVA Ventures as the parent bank’s executive director of strategy and corporate development and is one of three partners at San Francisco–based Propel. (The other partners, Ryan Gilbert and Thomas Whiteaker, also made the transition from BBVA Ventures.) Motivating the change were U.S. regulatory limits on bank investment positions. As an independent firm, Propel can make seed investments and go north of 5 percent in any financing round. Its sweet spot: Series A and Series B participations of $5 million to $15 million. “We’re trying to lead investments instead of just being a follower,” says Reinemann, 47, who joined BBVA in 2011 and formerly headed Visa’s corporate ventures and strategic alliances group. “We’ve got a brand-new fund, and we’re actively hunting.” Propel made its first lead investment in July: a $7 million Series A round for Burlingame, California–based 401(k) platform Guideline Technologies. In August, Propel participated in a $4.5 million seed round for San Francisco’s Brave Software, which has developed a web browser with a built-in Bitcoin-based micropayment system. There were three other seed financings earlier in the year: online car dealer Drive Motors, home insurer Hippo, and identity-theft protection system Civic Technologies. At the time of Propel’s launch, BBVA allocated an additional $150 million, which will be directed toward European opportunities through a London office expected to open late this year. Reinemann says Propel, currently with seven employees, is actively hiring and aims to close five to ten new investments a year. “We’ve seen our deal flow more than double since we launched,” he says.

The 2016 Fintech Finance 35