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The 2016 Fintech Finance 35: Meyer (Micky) Malka

No. 11 Meyer (Micky) Malka says Ribbit Capital is prepared for an environment in which “it is harder to grow companies”.

11. Meyer (Micky) Malka
General Partner
Ribbit Capital
Last year: 9

A native of Venezuela who took an entrepreneurial route into fintech financing, Meyer (Micky) Malka says Ribbit Capital is prepared for an environment in which “it is harder to grow companies” — what he terms “a natural part of the cycle” — because the firm is able to venture far afield, geographically and by sector. “We did Brazil when no one was in it,” says Malka, pointing to the firm’s investment in accounting software provider ContaAzul. “We’ve doubled down” in that Latin American country, he adds, with Ribbit increasing its position in personal financial management platform GuiaBolso and financing student lender Ideal Invest. The now-$460 million portfolio also includes Berlin-based Raisin, which offers above-market interest rates on savings deposits, and Cheddar, which streams financial news and other video content from New York’s Flatiron Building and other locations for the Millennial demographic. “Cheddar generates more views than CNBC,” says Malka, who after starting and selling two companies in Venezuela co-founded Bling Nation, a mobile payments company that was renamed Lemon in 2011 and sold to LifeLock for $50 million in 2013. Sensing opportunity in the emerging fintech sector, Malka launched Palo Alto, California–based Ribbit in 2012, taking the name from the sound a frog makes, to convey the notion of leapfrogging. “We like companies building consumer financial brands that bring massive transparency and value-add to the consumers,” says the 42-year-old managing partner. He believes opportunities abound in start-up firms in money management — a potential $10 billion market. “Finance is a commodity industry; you’re not inventing anything new,” he says. “The channels and the way you communicate are what’s new.”


The 2016 Fintech Finance 35

1. Jonathan Korngold
General Atlantic
2. Matthew Harris
Bain Capital Ventures
3. Jane Gladstone
Evercore Partners
4. James Robinson III & James
Robinson IV
RRE Ventures
5. Steven McLaughlin
Financial Technology Partners
6. Amy Nauiokas & Sean Park
Anthemis Group
7. Richard Garman &
Brad Bernstein
FTV Capital
8. Gerard
von Dohlen
Broadhaven Capital Partners
9. Darren Cohen
Goldman Sachs Group
10. Hans Morris
Nyca Partners
11. Meyer (Micky) Malka
Ribbit Capital
12. Maria Gotsch
Partnership Fund for New York City
13. Barry Silbert
Digital Currency Group
14. Jay Reinemann
Propel Venture Partners
15. Mariano Belinky
Santander InnoVentures
16. Justin Brownhill & Neil DeSena
SenaHill Partners
17. François Robinet
AXA Strategic Ventures
18. Vanessa Colella
Citi Ventures
19. Michael Schlein
Accion International
20. Kenneth Marlin
Marlin & Associates
21. Rumi Morales
CME Ventures
22. Alastair (Alex) Rampell
Andreessen Horowitz
23. Steve Gibson
Euclid Opportunities
24. Fabian Vandenreydt
SWIFT
25. Vladislav Solodkiy
Life.SREDA
26. Gardiner Garrard III
TTV Capital
27. Nektarios Liolios
Startupbootcamp Fintech
28. Lawrence Wintermeyer
Innovate Finance
29. Bina Kalola
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
30. Hyder Jaffrey
Fintech Innovation
31. Calvin Choi
AMTD Group
32. Janos Barberis
FinTech
Hong Kong
33. Jalak Jobanputra
Future Perfect Ventures
34. Sopnendu Mohanty
Monetary Authority of Singapore
35. Oskar Mielczarek
de la Miel
Rakuten
FinTech Fund

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