Meyer Malka

Meyer Malka
Alma mater Andrés Bello Catholic University
Occupation Technology & financial services entrepreneur; founder and General Partner of Ribbit Capital
Website
Meyer "Micky" Malka - Ribbit Capital

Meyer "Micky" Malka is a technology and financial services entrepreneur. He is founder and general partner of Ribbit Capital, a venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, California.[1]

Career

In 1993, at the age of 19, Malka co-founded Heptagon Group, a securities and investment broker dealer servicing the Venezuelan and U.S. markets, where he served as Chief operating officer.[2] In 1998, Malka developed the online brokerage Patagon.com, Inc.,[3] which became Latin America’s first comprehensive Internet-based financial services portal and dealer until its acquisition in March 2000 by the Spanish bank Banco Santander for over $700 million.[4] Malka then served as the interim Chief Executive Officer for OpenBank S.A., an online bank in Spain and Germany.[5]

In 2003, he co-founded Banco Lemon which was acquired by Banco do Brasil, Latin America’s largest bank.[6]

After moving to San Francisco in 2007, in July 2008, Malka co-founded and served as co-Chief Executive Officer of Bling Nation Ltd., a Palo Alto-based mobile payments company until July 2011 when it evolved into Lemon Inc.[2] Lemon was acquired by LifeLock for $50 million in December 2013.[7][8]

In May 2011, Malka co-founded Banco Bracce, a Brazilian financial banking institution specializing in lending for mid-sized companies in Brazil.[5]

In 2012, Malka founded Ribbit Capital, a venture capital firm that targets early-stage companies that use technology to innovate financial services worldwide. Malka raised Ribbit’s inaugural $100 million fund in 2012. Investors include Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Silicon Valley Bank and various institutional investors and individuals such as Social+Capital founder Chamath Palihapitiya and PayPal President David Marcus.[2][9]

Through Ribbit, Malka has made investments in several financial services and bitcoin companies, including Coinbase,[10] BTCJam,[2] Funding Circle,[11] CreditKarma,[12] ContaAzul,[13] Comparaonline.com,[14] borro,[15] Capital Access Network[16] and Fuze Network.[17]

Malka graduated from Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas, Venezuela in 1996 with a degree in economics.[2]

Boards

Malka serves on the board of directors of Brazilian e-commerce website Peixe Urbano.[18] He also serves on the boards of directors of Mercado Libre[19] and Credit Karma,[12] an online consumer resource to track financial health and credit services. Malka was also elected as a board member of the Bitcoin Foundation.[20] He was until April 2014 on the board of Wonga, a British payday lender.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Ribbit Capital Closes $100M Venture Capital Fund; Launches Inaugural Fund with Four Initial Investments". Business Wire. January 22, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Serena Saitto (February 28, 2014). "Bitcoin Bull Holds Firm as Mt. Gox Drags Down Currency". Bloomberg.
  3. ↑ "Bling Nation Launches Community Payment Network for Local, Regional Financial Institutions". Business Wire. November 18, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Things Could Get Nasty On The Net". Bloomberg Businessweek. April 2, 2000.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Can Capital Advisory Board". CanCapital.com. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  6. ↑ "MERCADOLIBRE INC". EDGAR Online. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Leading Identity Theft Protection Company LifeLock Acquires Mobile Wallet Innovator Lemon, Inc.". LifeLock. December 12, 2013.
  8. ↑ Blair Hanley Frank (December 12, 2013). "Maveron-backed Lemon Wallet sells to LifeLock for $50 million". GeekWire.com.
  9. ↑ Tricia Duryee (January 22, 2013). "Ribbit Capital Raises $100 Million With the Goal of Modernizing Money". All Things Digital.
  10. ↑ Sarah E. Needleman (May 7, 2013). "Coinbase Nabs $5M in Biggest Funding for Bitcoin Startup". The Wall Street Journal.
  11. ↑ "Funding Circle secures Series C led by Accel". peHUB Reuters. October 24, 2013.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Credit Karma Secures $30 Million in Series B Funding". Marketwired. April 2, 2013.
  13. ↑ "ContaAzul Raises Series B Funding". Business Wire. November 4, 2013.
  14. ↑ "ComparaOnline Raises $11 Million in Series B Funding". PR Newswire. September 4, 2013.
  15. ↑ "borro Secures $26M in Funding to Fuel Global Growth". Business Wire. October 11, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Capital Access Network Announces Advisory Board for Launch of Online Lending Platform CapTap". Reuters. November 27, 2012.
  17. ↑ "Fuze Network, A Payments Company Focused On The Under-Banked, Raises $2.5 Million Series A". TechCrunch. September 27, 2012.
  18. ↑ Lizette Chapman (January 22, 2013). "Ribbit Capital Debuts With $100M Early-Stage Fund". Dow Jones.
  19. ↑ "MercadoLibre Inc MercadoLibre Inc". Reuters. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Bitcoin Foundation Board Members". Bitcoin Foundation. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Meyer 'Micky' Malka quits Wonga board". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved April 12, 2014.