< The 2015 Fintech Finance 35

There is a message embedded in Nyca Partners’ name. Hans Morris, who founded the firm in July 2014, fused the abbreviations of New York and California to represent “bringing together the expertise of both Silicon Valley and Wall Street.” Morris has worked in both places, knows how their venture capital cultures differ and believes Nyca can help them work better together. “If you’re an entrepreneur and go to a top VC firm and start talking about [futures commission merchants] or straight-through processing or some rule from the CFTC, they won’t know what you’re talking about,” says Morris, 56. “To be able to do that off the top of your head is very advantageous.” Nyca’s aim is not to supplant the Silicon Valley establishment but rather to partner with those firms, he adds. Morris served as COO of Citigroup’s investment bank during a 27-year career with that company; as president of Foster City, California–based Visa at the time of its $18 billion IPO, in 2008; and as a managing director of New York’s General Atlantic (see Jonathan Korngold, No. 5). Nyca got off to a fast start and has made more than 20 investments so far, among them money-transmission app company Abra and cybersecurity innovator Centripetal Networks. Managing partner Morris looks mainly for A- or B-stage start-ups in payments, credit and what he calls digital advice (robo-adviser SigFig Wealth Management is in the portfolio). He also sees opportunity in the financial industry core infrastructure, but for now he is wary of blockchain, in which “I see lots of issues that merit caution,” including overvaluations. The iron law of new businesses — that most will fail — still applies, says Morris, adding: “What will be helpful to fintech start-ups is having expert advice. The details help explain the difference between good ideas and successful ideas.”

 
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 Model Portfolios to Deliver Alternative Asset Exposure Sponsored by BlackRock April 29, 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