< The 2015 Fintech Finance 35

The life of a serial entrepreneur, creating one technology company at a time, became too slow-paced for Meyer (Micky) Malka’s taste. He revved up by forming and selling two start-ups in his native Venezuela, then co-founding Bling Nation, a Silicon Valley mobile payments company that was renamed Lemon in 2011 and sold to LifeLock for $50 million in 2013. By then Malka had “decided it was the right time to become a premier investor in financial services.” As banks were dealing with the after-effects of the 2008 crisis, new distribution technologies, notably smartphones, and consumers’ willingness to try new things were fueling “a perfect storm to allow new financial brands,” says Malka, 41. He launched Ribbit Capital in 2012 to build an investment portfolio around that trend. Palo Alto, California–based Ribbit — named for the sound a frog makes, to connote leapfrogging — has made more than two dozen investments. They include Bitcoin-related companies BTCjam, Coinbase and Xapo, which is only fitting because Malka is a director of the cryptocurrency-promoting Bitcoin Foundation. But the portfolio also includes credit-score monitor Credit Karma, U.K.-U.S. lending platform Funding Circle, low-cost brokerage Robinhood, robo-adviser Wealthfront and others as far afield as Australia (small-business app Invoice2go) and Brazil (accounting software provider ContaAzul). Says Malka, “We try to find companies around the world that will become the next Charles Schwab or GEICO.” Ribbit Capital has a website (ribbitcap.com) displaying its “mantra,” team biographies and portfolio bets, but it provides no e-mail or phone contact. Malka says he wants to hear only from people willing to take the trouble to find him.

 
The 2015 Fintech Finance 35

1. James Robinson III & James Robinson IV RRE Ventures 2. Jane Gladstone Evercore Partners 3. Matthew Harris Bain Capital Ventures Methanol Gains Traction as an Alternative Energy Source Sponsored by CME Group May 5, 2025 4. Steven McLaughlin Financial Technology Partners 5. Jonathan Korngold General Atlantic

6. Richard Garman & Brad Bernstein FTV Capital 7. Amy Nauiokas & Sean Park Anthemis Group 8. Thomas Jessop Goldman Sachs Group 9. Meyer (Micky) Malka Ribbit Capital 10. Hans Morris Nyca Partners

11. Maria Gotsch Partnership Fund for New York City 12. Marc Andreessen Andreessen Horowitz 13. Barry Silbert Digital Currency Group 14. Jay Reinemann Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria 15. Mariano Belinky Santander InnoVentures

16. François Robinet AXA Strategic Ventures 17. Vanessa Colella Citi Ventures 18. Alan Freudenstein & Gregory Grimaldi Credit Suisse NEXT Fund 19. Justin Brownhill & Neil DeSena SenaHill Partners 20. Rodger Voorhies Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

21. Michael Schlein Accion International 22. Kenneth Marlin Marlin & Associates 23. Rumi Morales CME Ventures 24. Mark Beeston Illuminate Financial Management 25. Vladislav Solodkiy Life.SREDA

26. Fabian Vandenreydt Innotribe SWIFT 27. Derek White Barclays 28. Alex Batlin UBS 29. Jeffrey Greenberg & Vincenzo La Ruffa Aquiline Capital Partners 30. P. Howard Edelstein REDI Holdings

31. Nektarios Liolios Startupbootcamp FinTech 32. Roy Bahat Bloomberg Beta 33. Andrew McCormack Valar Ventures 34. Lawrence Wintermeyer Innovate Finance 35. Janos Barberis FinTech Hong Kong