The 2015 Fintech Finance 35: Meyer (Micky) Malka, Ribbit Capital

The life of a serial entrepreneur, creating one technology company at a time, became too slow-paced forMeyer (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 brokerageRobinhood, 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.