The Top 50 Financial Technology CEOs Of 2021

The Top 50 Financial Technology CEOs Of 2021 April 28, 2021

The Financial Technology Report is pleased to announce the Top 50 Financial Technology CEOs of 2021. This year’s leaders are capitalizing on one of the fastest growing industries globally. While financial technology originated to automate functions at the “back-end” of financial institutions, it has evolved to focus more widely on consumeroriented services. Across personal finance, insurance, payments, investment management, cryptocurrency trading, real estate, and other areas, the companies represented on this year’s award list have developed innovative ways to improve financial processes for consumers and businesses alike. Notably, they have focused on making financial services more accessible, using advanced AI, machine learning, and API technology to remove traditional roadblocks and improve the speed and convenience of financial interactions.

This year’s awardees are some of the most accomplished leaders in the fintech sector, many of whom have led their companies through significant capital raises, often doubling or tripling their companies’ valuations as they expand into new geographic areas and develop new products. These notable executives, who have extensive experience in fields such as finance, investment banking, software engineering, consumer technology, and retail, have often leveraged their varied experiences to develop solutions for the market gaps they identified.

Many are also serial entrepreneurs, founding and exiting multiple startups that led them to their current roles. As the financial technology industry continues its meteoric growth, these CEOs are poised to remain at the forefront, providing secure, accessible, and powerful financial services for the consumers and enterprises they serve. Please join us in celebrating the achievements of the Top 50 Financial Technology CEOs of 2021.

1. Robert Reffkin Company: Compass Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer

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Robert Reffkin is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Compass, a licensed real estate broker that leverages smart phone technology as a marketing medium. Compass’s strategy has been to update the antiquated real estate industry. With the Compass platform, real estate agents and prospective buyers are able to share listings and ideas. The company also provides agents with technology tools to help with marketing. Since its start in 2012, the company has raised $775 million in investor capital and has expanded to every major U.S. city. Compass agents have closed more than $300 billion worth of deals. In March 2021, the company filed to go public, and it currently has a valuation of $10 billion.

Originally Reffkin was inspired to enter the world of real estate by his mother, Ruth, a longtime agent who now proudly works at Compass. Previously, Reffkin worked as a White House Fellow in the Department of the Treasury, before spending six years at Goldman Sachs. He eventually rose to become chief of staff to the firm’s president and chief operating officer. In 2008, he raised $1.3 million to help the Success Charter Network open its first school in the Bronx. The Berkeley native also founded America Needs You, a nonprofit that provides career development and mentorship to first-generation college students. Reffkin received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics, philosophy, and history, and his Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia University.

2. Simon Paris Company: Finastra Title: Chief Executive Officer Simon Paris is the Chief Executive Officer at Finastra. In his current position, he takes responsibility for Finastra’s strategic direction and growth. His leadership steers the company as it realizes its open platform vision, accelerating collaboration and innovation in financial services and creating better experiences for people, businesses, and communities. Finastra builds and delivers nextgeneration technology via its open Fusion software architecture and cloud ecosystem.

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A firm believer in the principles of doing well by doing good, Paris chairs the World Trade Board and is passionate about how technology and open trade can drive financial inclusion and improve people’s lives. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Everbridge, a critical event management (CEM) software company. Paris joined Finastra (formerly Misys) as president in 2015, was appointed deputy chief executive officer in 2017, and became Chief Executive Officer in June 2018. He brings more than 20 years of sales, management, and global leadership expertise to the company, having previously held the role of president of industry cloud at SAP. Prior to that, he was a senior consultant with McKinsey & Company. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the INSEAD Business School in France and an honors Bachelor of Arts degree in business, Spanish, and French from the European Business School.

3. Sebastian Siemiatkowski Company: Klarna Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Siemiatkowski is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Klarna, a Swedish fintech company that provides online financial services such as payments for online storefronts, direct payments, and post-purchase payments.

Commonly referred to as the "Swedish rival to PayPal," Klarna boasts a registered customer base of 90 million, 11 million of which are in the U.S. In the last year alone, 21 million users were added globally. With a $31 billion valuation, the Swedish “buy now, pay later” sensation is currently Europe’s most valuable private tech company.

One of Siemiatkowski's biggest breakthroughs came when he recognized the value of offering services that let consumers make installment payments for things they buy online. In 2005 he founded such a service, Klarna, in his native Sweden, and has since become a leader in this niche of the financial industry. Sometimes referred to as "the man behind the ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ shopping revolution" Siemiatkowski has overseen the company’s rapid growth across Europe and more recently into North America. In recognition of his leadership, the CEO has received multiple awards, including runner up in the 2015 global EY Entrepreneur of the Year award, Leader of the Year by Adecco, and the European Entrepreneur of the Year Award

by TechTour. He holds a Master of Science degree in economics and business from the Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

Stockholm School of Economics.

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4. David Vélez Company: Nubank Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer David Vélez is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of São Paulo-based Nubank. Founded in 2013, Nubank is a leading financial technology company in Latin America, and the largest independent neobank in the world, with more than 20 million clients. The company has come a long way since its first product, the no-fee credit card that is currently used by over 12 million customers. To date, Nubank has raised around $820 million in seven equity investment rounds. It has been elected as the most innovative company in Latin America and is ranked no. 36 on Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.

Prior to Founding Nubank, Vélez led a financial career that spanned 10 years. His most recent position was as a partner at Sequoia Capital, a role he held for almost three years where he was responsible for Latin American Investments. He was senior associate of General Atlantic prior to that position. He got his start in the industry as an analyst both at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Vélez received his Bachelor of Science degree in management science and engineering from Stanford University and his Master of Business Administration degree from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

5. Patrick Collison Company: Stripe Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Collison is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Stripe, a company that allows businesses and individuals to accept payments over the internet. The company was cofounded by Collison and his brother, John, in 2010 while studying mathematics at MIT. Today, from new startups to public companies like Salesforce and Facebook, Stripe’s software is used to enable online Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

Sign Up payments and run technically sophisticated financial operations in more than 100 countries,

with a long-term goal of increasing the GDP of the Internet. As Stripe’s leader, Collison seamlessly embraces world-class imperatives and technically sound best practices with an enthusiasm for customer-directed core competencies.

Prior to Stripe, Collison was also the co-founder of Auctomatic, an auction and marketplace management system. His entrepreneurial skill has defined his career from an early age, winning the 41st Young Scientist of the Year award for his work with Lisp at just 16 years old.

After Auctomatic was bought by Live Current Media, Collison and his brother began working on Stripe, growing the company first through word of mouth, and then by securing funding from big names like Peter Thiel, Sequoia Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz. Now, Stripe is currently valued at $95 billion, making it the most valuable U.S. startup.

6. Brian Armstrong Company: Coinbase Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. Since its founding in 2012, Coinbase has helped users buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Following the recent increase in cryptocurrency interest from the public, the company has seen enormous growth. Coinbase currently has more than 35 million customers in over 100 countries, with more than $25 billion in assets on the platform and more than $320 billion in total volume traded. In April 2021, Coinbase went public, briefly reaching a market capitalization of $100 billion.

Not yet 40, Armstrong has already reached billionaire status as a result of the success of his company. He was previously a software engineer at Airbnb, where he began using his free time to write code that allowed for trading cryptocurrency. Before Airbnb, Armstrong was the founder and CEO of UniversityTutor.com, an online tutoring directory, for nearly a decade. In 2018, Armstrong was the first cryptocurrency executive to sign The Giving Pledge, when he pledged to give away the bulk of his wealth to philanthropic causes. Over his brilliant career, the young entrepreneur has been recognized by multiple media outlets, including Time Magazine's 100 Next list for 2019. He attended Rice University, earning a dual bachelor's Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

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degree in economics and computer science, followed by a master’s degree in computer science.

7. Kristo Käärmann Company: Wise Title: Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Kristo Käärmann is the Chief Executive Officer of Wise (formerly TransferWise), a peer-to-peer international money transfer business. Wise is known for competing with banks who charge exorbitant amounts for foreign-currency transfers by allowing users to exchange money using mid-market rates for a flat fee. Wise uses real exchange rates in order to help expats, foreign students, and businesses wire money securely, conveniently, and at a very low cost. Käärmann co-founded Wise in 2011 with Taavet Hinrikus and brings to the business varied expertise in retail finance, online services, data warehousing, cloud computing, risk management, insurance, actuarial modeling, and regulation. Under Käärmann’s leadership, Wise has grown to serve over 10 million customers, who have trusted the company to transfer £4.5 billion every month.

Prior to co-founding Wise, Käärmann worked as a manager for Deloitte, where he led the firm’s approach in helping clients with information management and systems architecture. He has also held roles with the University of Tartu, PwC, and EGreen. He received his Master of Science degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Tartu.

8. Anthony Noto Company: SoFi Title: Chief Executive Officer A prominent leader of major businesses, Anthony Noto is the Chief Executive Officer at SoFi, a role he’s held for three years. SoFi is the leading fintech that enables consumers to save, spend, borrow, and invest all on one app. A values-driven company, SoFi creates modern Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter Sign Up financial products with the aim of helping individuals achieve financial independence and

realize their ambitions—whatever they may be. Noto brings to SoFi extensive experience from leading some of the top tech, sporting, and finance companies over a career of over 20 years.

Just prior to joining SoFi, Noto was a c-suite executive at Twitter. He joined first as the chief financial officer, before becoming COO. He preceded this with a role as the co-head of global TMT investment banking at Goldman Sachs for just shy of four years. In an unexpected deviation, he spent almost three years as the CFO of the NFL. He got his start as a brand manager at Kraft Foods and as an associate with Lehman Brothers. Noto has a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and a Master of Business Administration degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

9. Valentin Stalf Company: N26 Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Valentin Stalf is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of N26, one of Europe’s leading mobile app-based challenger banks. Since its launch, N26 has attracted millions of users by giving them a free basic account and debit card with no extra fees. N26 (a reference to the 26 sides of a Rubik's Cube) leverages a digital business model to operate on a much lower cost base with lean organizational structures, without IT legacies, passing on cost benefits to customers. So far, the company has raised $770 million from some of the world's top investors and is currently valued at $3.5 billion.

Stalf founded N26 in 2013 with longtime friend Maximilian Tayenthal who shared his vision of redesigning banking for the 21st century. Before N26, Stalf was an entrepreneur in residence for Rocket Internet, an incubator and investor in online startups. There, he helped to develop several companies in the mobile payments industry, including payleven and Paymill GmbH. He also balances his time as a member of the advisory board at the Vienna University of Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter Economics and Business. Stalf holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration andSign Up

management and a master’s degree in accounting and finance from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

10. Kenneth Lin Company: Credit Karma Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lin is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Credit Karma, a San Francisco-based multinational personal finance company founded in 2007, which has been a brand of Intuit since December 2020. The company provides customers with free credit scores and credit monitoring, as well as free tax preparation software and filing. All of Credit Karma’s services are free to consumers since revenue is earned from targeted advertisements for additional financial products. As of 2020, the company has over 85 million users.

Lin started Credit Karma in 2007 after being discouraged by the cost of obtaining his own credit score, causing him to seek a better alternative. Credit Karma is a culmination of Lin's past experience founding a data-driven marketing consultancy and working for consumer credit and mission-based companies. Prior to Credit Karma, Lin also founded Multilytics Marketing, a data-driven marketing agency that actively managed more than $40 million per year in online marketing dollars for clients such as Wells Fargo, Liberty Mutual, and eBay. Originally from China, and the first person in his family to graduate from college, Lin initially sold extra computer parts and opened an internet café in Harvard Square. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and mathematics from Boston University.

11. Alex Timm Company: Root Insurance Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer With a vision to completely turn the insurance industry on its head, disruptive entrepreneur Alex Timm co-founded Root in 2015. Today, he is the company’s serving Chief Executive Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

Sign Up Officer, operating on the idea that car insurance rates should be primarily based on driving

behaviors, rather than demographics. Root is known as the first insurance company that’s built entirely for consumers.

Rates are earned based on driving ability alone, tackling unfair discrimination on the insurance industry.

Prior to founding Root, Timm spent almost four years at Nationwide Insurance working his way up from financial leadership associate, to consulting corporate strategy, to being a senior consultant. Recognized for his leadership acumen, Timm sits on the board of directors of GoHealth, a role he assumed at the start of 2020. Timm also served as an Actuarial Exam Review Instructor for Drake University where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and his Bachelor of Arts degree in actuarial science, accounting, and mathematics.

12. Eric Wu Company: Opendoor.com Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer A successful and serial real-estate entrepreneur, Eric Wu’s current role is Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Opendoor.com. Opendoor, founded in 2014, operates with a mission to empower everyone with the freedom to move.

Since launching, the company has sought to rebuild the broken real-estate system by creating a digital, end-to-end customer experience that makes buying and selling a home, simple, certain, and fast. Its dedicated team supports 85,000 customers who are committed to the company’s dedication to transforming the real-estate industry. Opendoor sold nearly 18,800 homes in 2019, generating $4.7 billion in revenue.

Prior to joining Opendoor, Wu was the head of geo/social products at Trulia.com for two years, a company that goes beyond typical real estate listings by providing information about neighborhoods as well as insights from area locals. He was also the founder of Movity.com and co-founder of RentAdvisor.com. His first company was Real Estate Fund, a personal investment fund that purchases properties around college campuses, which he founded in 2002 and ran for just shy of five years. Wu has a Bachelor of Science degree in economics Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

from the University of Arizona.

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13. Chris Britt Company: Chime Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Chris Britt is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Chime, a San Francisco startup founded in 2013 as an alternative to traditional banking. Chime provides a mobile banking app and debit card with no monthly fees. The company’s growth has been explosive, and it took Chime only five years to reach one million customer accounts. Two years later it had eight million. By September 2020, Chime had raised $485 million in funding at a $14.5 billion valuation, nearly tripling its value in six months.

Driven by a belief that traditional consumer banking can be drastically improved, Britt has led Chime's strategic direction and growth over the years. Before founding Chime, Britt was the chief product officer and SVP of corporate development at Green Dot, a prepaid card company. Prior to that, Britt held roles as a senior product leader at Visa and as one of the first executives at ComScore. In addition, Britt balances his time as a board member of CoachArt, a non-profit that connects chronically ill children with free lessons in art and athletics. Britt received his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Tulane University.

14. Zachary Perret Company: Plaid Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Zachary Perret is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at fintech giant Plaid. Since its founding in 2013, Plaid has established itself as a major leader in fintech whose product is used by thousands of digital financial apps and services such as Microsoft and Venmo, and by many of the largest banks.

Plaid makes it easy for consumers to connect their financial accounts with the apps and services they want to use. Perret founded the company along with William Hockey and today, Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter the company connects with over 11,000 financial institutions across the U.S., Canada, Sign and Up

Europe. The company is passionate about building a more efficient financial infrastructure and making it more inclusive as well.

Prior to founding Plaid, Perret was a consultant with Bain & Company for one year. This was supplemented by four years at the Duke Board of Trustees as a research fellow and trustee.

Now, Plaid’s $13.4 billion valuation has made Perret a billionaire, and he continues to guide the company in its development of new and innovative offerings for consumers. Perret received his Bachelor of Science degree in in physics, chemistry, and biology from Duke University, where he was also president of the Duke Student Union.

15. Dave Girouard Company: Upstart Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Dave Girouard is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Upstart, a leading AI lending platform that partners with banks to improve access to affordable credit. Girouard cofounded Upstart to help the millions of consumers who don’t have access to credit, pay too much for it, or take on credit they can’t ultimately afford. More than $9 billion in loans have been originated on the Upstart platform by its bank partners. By combining more than 1,000 variables about each applicant with more than 10 million repayment events and sophisticated machine learning algorithms to interpret that data, Upstart's AI models provide higher approval rates, lower loss rates, and a highly automated digital experience. At the end of 2020, Upstart became a public company, and has recently expanded into auto loans.

Previously, Girouard was president of Google Enterprise, now known as Google Cloud. He was also senior vice president of product management and marketing at Virage. Prior to this position, Girouard was a product manager at Apple and also a senior associate at Booz Allen Hamilton. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in engineering sciences and his Bachelor of Engineering degree in computer engineering from Dartmouth College. He also received a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Michigan.

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16. Pedro Franceschi & Henr Company: Brex Title: Co-Founders and CoChief Executive Officers Brex was founded in 2017 by Co-founders and Co-Chief Executive Officers Pedro Franceschi and Henrique Dubugras, who both moved to Silicon Valley in order to create a first of its kind corporate card for startups. Instead of evaluating applicants based on the company’s history, as a traditional bank would, the company reviews its real-time financial data and extends credit lines based on current factors, such as funding and spending behavior. Following a $57 million round of funding in 2018, Brex introduced its rewards program, and became one of the fastest American companies ever to reach a multibillion-dollar valuation. To date, Brex has raised over $400 million in equity and $500 million in debt capital.

As teenagers in Brazil, Franceschi and Dubugras first teamed up online, bonding over their mutual love for video games. This partnership led to the creation of their first company, Pagar.me, a Brazilian online payment company they launched together in 2013 and grew to 150 employees, before selling it in 2016. The pair then enrolled at Stanford University, but didn’t make it through freshman year before dropping out to found Brex. Sharing CEO duties, the duo continue to disrupt the century-old industry of banking with their fintech unicorn.

17. Rishi Khosla Company: OakNorth Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Rishi Khosla is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of OakNorth Bank, a company founded in London six years ago.

Positioned as the U.K. bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs, OakNorth is the creator of the ON Credit Intelligence Suite, the industry’s first ML-powered, dataSign up for free TFTR email newsletter

Up driven technology that gives commercial lenders a forward looking, 360-degree view ofSign their

borrowers. Built over five years by an engineering science team of over 250 people, the ON Credit Intelligence Suite has propelled OakNorth Bank in the U.K. into the top 1 percent of banks in developed markets. Khosla brings to the company serial success as an entrepreneur and early stage investor in companies such as PayPal and Indiabulls.

Before founding OakNorth Bank, Khosla was the owner, chairman, and CEO of Copal Partners for over 12 years. The company was a financial research firm that was scaled to 3,000 employees and sold to Moody’s Corporation in 2014. Khosla received his bachelor’s degree in economics from University College London, and a master’s degree in accounting and finance from the London School of Economics.

18. Jason Gardner Company: Marqeta Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jason Gardner is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Marqeta, Inc., a headline-grabbing payment innovation platform known for helping businesses customize the way they make and manage payments. Marqeta was founded 11 years ago and is the world’s first open API platform powering innovative payment experiences for many of the apps and services customers enjoy daily.

Today, Marqeta has over 500 employees, operating globally in the U.S., U.K., E.U., Canada, and soon APAC. The company has extensive partnerships with major banks and card networks including Mastercard, Visa, and Discover. Gardner brings to Marqeta specialties in electronic payments, prepaid cards, merchant processing both on and offline, global remittance processing, financial services technologies, payments compliance, money transfer, and mobile money transfer.

Prior to Marqeta, Gardner worked for 17 years across the financial and technology industries as a leader and founder. Most recently, he was a vice president at MoneyGram International for just over two years. Prior to that, he was the president and co-founder of PropertyBridge.

He also founded Vertical Think, Inc. His leadership roles have spanned across companies such as The 451 Group, Nexgenix, Inc., Gartner Group, NetManage Inc., and others. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Arizona State University.

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19. Zac Prince Company: BlockFi Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer Zac Prince is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of BlockFi, a non-bank lender that offers USD loans to crypto asset owners who collateralize the loan with their crypto assets. Founded in 2017, the rapidly growing fintech startup is driven by the conviction that digital assets are the future of finance. Since the end of 2019, BlockFi has seen its client base grow from 10,000 to more than 225,000 today. In addition, the company has grown its team to over 500 employees worldwide, boasting a healthy monthly revenue that currently exceeds $50 million.

In his role as CEO, Prince's goal is to help facilitate cryptocurrencies going mainstream. In 2020, his main achievements include growing BlockFi and allowing retail investors to receive interest payments by depositing BTC. His professional experience includes leadership roles at multiple successful tech companies. Prior to launching BlockFi, Prince led business development teams at Orchard Platform, a broker dealer and RIA in the online lending sector, and Zibby, an online consumer lender. Originally Prince started his career in adtech, where he was a part of two successful acquisitions, Admeld (Acquired by Google) and Sociomantic Labs (acquired by DunnHumby). He graduated cum laude from Texas State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in international business.

20. Brad Garlinghouse Company: Ripple Title: Chief Executive Officer With 22 years of leadership experience, Brad Garlinghouse is the Chief Executive Officer of Ripple, a company he has been with for six years. Offering the ability to move money instantly around the world, Ripple provides one frictionless experience by harnessing the power of blockchain technology.

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Sign Up Founded in 2012, the company has made good on its vision to enable a world where value

moves as seamlessly as information flows today, cultivating the Internet of Value. Its global payments network includes over 300 customers across 40+ countries and six continents.

Alongside his CEO role, Garlinghouse also is a member of the Board of Directors.

Prior to Ripple, Garlinghouse served as the CEO of file collaboration service Hightail. From 2009 to 2011, he was president of applications and commerce at AOL and he also held various executive positions at Yahoo! from 2003 to 2008, including senior vice president.

Earlier in his career, Garlinghouse helped to pioneer the VoIP industry as CEO of Dialpad Communications. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at OutMatch and has held previous board positions with Ancestry.com and Tonic Health. Garlinghouse received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kansas and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School.

21. Brock Blake Company: Lendio Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer Brock Blake is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lendio, the largest online marketplace for small business loans in the U.S. An ambitious and strategic entrepreneur and leader, Blake is passionate about solving major market problems and has found a channel for his purpose at Lendio.

Under his leadership, Lendio has a network of over 75 lenders offering multiple loan products, cementing its place as the center of small business lending. Lendio and Blake’s long list of accolades tout the company as one of the best places to work (by Glassdoor, Inc. Magazine, Fortune, SL Tribune, and Great Place to Work) repeatedly across the past few years. Blake himself has been recognized numerous times as a Top Utah Entrepreneur whose company is the number-one fastest growing company in Utah.

Blake brings to Lendio specialties in small business loans, angel investing, early-stage business financing, unsecured lines of credit, new venture startups, business development, and strategy. Prior to Lendio he was the CEO and founder of FundingUniverse for over five years. He is a regular contributor for Forbes Magazine, and was a semi-pro soccer player for the BYU Cougars for six years prior to entering the business space with FundingUniverse.

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Blake studied entrepreneurial finance with a Spanish minor at the Brigham Young University Marriot School of Management.

22. Eyal Lifshitz Company: BlueVine Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer Eyal Lifshitz is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bluevine, a Redwood City, California-based fintech company that provides small and medium-sized businesses with access to fast and simple financial products through an advanced, online platform. More specifically, the company offers a suite of products designed to meet the diverse financial needs of today’s business owners including its BlueVine Business Checking, Line of Credit, Term Loan, and Invoice Factoring solutions.

Since its 2013 inception, BlueVine has provided more than $9 billion in fast funding to more than 200,000 clients. In 2020, BlueVine facilitated more than 155,000 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to small businesses.

As a third generation small-business entrepreneur, Lifshitz is passionate about helping small businesses prosper. Before founding BlueVine, Lifshitz was a principal at Greylock IL, Greylock Partners’ dedicated fund for Israel and Europe. At Greylock, Lifshitz was involved in investing over $100 million in capital in startup companies. Before that, he was an associate at McKinsey & Company and a system and algorithm engineer at Texas Instruments. Lifshitz received his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Tel Aviv University, graduating in the top 10 percent of his class. Lifshitz also received a Master of Business Administration degree with high honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

23. Lawrence Calcano Company: iCapital Network Title: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

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Lawrence Calcano is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of iCapital Network, a fintech startup that specializes in investing in alternative assets. The company's flagship platform is designed to streamline access, ease operational burdens, and improve the user experience for their high-networth client base. iCapital, founded in 2013, has experienced rapid growth. As of February 2021, the company has more than 390 employees and services more than $72 billion in global client assets across more than 753 funds for more than 125,000 underlying accounts.

In 2014, Calcano joined the iCapital team, bringing with him over two decades of experience in the industry. As CEO he is responsible for the investor network and business development.

Previously, Calcano spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs, most recently serving as the co-head of the Global Technology Banking Group of the Investment Banking Division. He serves on the Boards of the Mental Health Association of New York City and Capitol Acquisition Corp V, a special purpose acquisition company. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and theater from the College of the Holy Cross. Calcano also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

24. Jason Lee Company: DailyPay Title: Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jason Lee is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of DailyPay, a venture backed financial technology company that enables employees to access their earned income before payday. With massive success during the pandemic, DailyPay today partners with large enterprises to offer its technology solution to their workforces, providing meaningful reductions in turnover and related cost savings. DailyPay uses modern technology to deliver secure, compliant, and on-demand pay benefits in its growing marketplace. The company operates on the philosophy that employees who have financial peace of mind are happier and more productive, and also tend to have stronger relationships with their employers.

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As an innovator who’s driven by purpose and real results, Lee is a well-known public speaker who is highly active in the community as a thought-leader. His work and writings have been featured in Forbes, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg. His many accolades include being recognized as a premier thought leader in global finance by International Financing Review and Milken Global Institute. He is also a Top 20 Digital Innovator in Benefits, by Employee Benefits News. Previously, Lee was a managing director with Goldman Sachs. He received his degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

25. Renaud Laplanche Company: Upgrade Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer An entrepreneurial leader with extensive experience in financial corporations, Renaud Laplanche is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Upgrade, a company he has helmed for just shy of five years. Upgrade is a challenger bank with a goal to offer an online and mobile banking experience that delivers exceptional value, including affordable loans and cards, ultimately helping customers to make good financial decisions so they can build the future they want.

Under Laplanche’s leadership, Upgrade is known as a ‘Best Place to Work in the Bay Area’ by the San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal. Laplanche brings to the company over 20 years of experience in leadership across the sector.

Alongside Upgrade, Laplanche also co-founded and was the CEO for Lending Club, a company he ran for almost 10 years, and MatchPoint, a company he was with for over five years before it was acquired by Oracle. After the acquisition of MatchPoint, Laplanche was a product manager for Oracle. He also worked as an associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP for five years. Laplanche received his Master of Business Administration degree in finance from HEC/London Business School.

26. Mike Cagney Company: Figure Technologies Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer

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Mike Cagney is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Figure Technologies, a full-stack financial services blockchain company based in San Francisco. Figure disburses mortgages and loans, using its Provenance blockchain to automate portions of the process. Not only does this technology slash the time taken in home loan origination, but it also helps cut origination, financing, servicing, and capital markets execution costs. In January 2021, Figure closed on a $100 million financing facility with J.P. Morgan, marking the firm's fifth facility at a total of $1.5 billion.

Since founding the company with his wife, Cagney has spearheaded the growth of the company, which reached unicorn status in 2019 after surpassing a valuation of more than $1 billion in less than two years. If there’s one thing that Cagney specializes in, it’s quickly building billion-dollar companies. He did the same thing at Social Finance (SoFi), which he previously launched and turned into one of the most successful consumer fintech companies of the decade. He also co-founded Cabezon Investment Group, a global macro hedge fund and proprietary trading shop that works for a select group of family office clients. Cagney received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and his Master of Science degree in applied economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He also holds a Master of Science degree in management from Stanford University where he was a Sloan Fellow for 10 months.

27. Jeff Schneble Company: Human Interest Title: Chief Executive Officer Jeff Schneble is the Chief Executive Officer of Human Interest, a company that helps small businesses, like tech startups, build their own easy and affordable 401(k) retirement plans.

The San Francisco, California-headquartered company has built an end-to-end technology to solve administrative and compliance problems for small and mid-sized businesses which might get underserved by the legacy systems of larger financial institutions. Human Interest’s 2020 growth has been impressive, if not staggering. It’s gone from adding about $100,000 a month in net new Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter Sign Up revenue in early 2019 to now adding more than $1 million per month in net new revenue.

Since its 2015 launch, Human Interest has helped nearly 3,000 businesses across America to offer retirement accounts to their more than 80,000 employees.

Schneble first joined Human Interest as a board member in 2017 and later assumed CEO responsibilities in 2019. Already, Schneble has worked with multiple entrepreneurs and teams to build successful technology companies. These companies include GoDaddy, Mercury Payment Systems, Vantage Data Centers, and Fathom. Until 2019 he was a Partner at Wing Venture Capital and a board member at Drip Capital. His academic credentials include a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the University of Washington, a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard University, and a PhD in physics from the University of Cambridge.

28. Michael Nicastro Company: Continuity Title: Chief Executive Officer Michael Nicastro is the Chief Executive Officer of Continuity, a fintech company providing compliance management solutions in the growing RegTech sector. Founded in 2008, the New Haven Connecticut-based firm combines regulatory expertise and cloud technology, to provide a way to reduce regulatory burden and mitigate risk at a fraction of the cost. Nicastro has led the company's strategic direction and managed the growth of its product base since joining the company in 2009.

With over 30 years of experience providing technology to community financial institutions, he is a leading strategist in the industry. Nicastro is currently an Associate Professor and Entrepreneur in Residence at Central Connecticut State University, where he mentors graduate and undergraduate business plan teams. This is in addition to his role as a Committee Member of CTNext, the higher education entrepreneurial advisory committee. He is also currently the Principal and Owner of Coppermine Advisors. Prior to Continuity, Nicastro held roles at Simsbury Bank, COCC, Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce, Weston Software, and spent 14 years at Open Solutions where he was one of the original employees.

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29. Brian Brinkley Company: QRails Title: Chief Executive Officer Brian Brinkley is the CEO for QRails, offering innovative payment platforms for payroll providers, financial institutions, and other fintech service organizations throughout North America and Europe. With over 30 years of experience in financial technology, Brian is credited with innovating cloudbased Digital Incentive Management Systems, which are currently employed by banks, retailers, airlines, and manufacturers around the world.

Prior to joining QRails, Brinkley was the founder and CTO of Zave Networks, a digital incentive platform provider acquired in 2011 by Google. After the acquisition, he led the integration of Zave’s technology into Google Wallet and oversaw international deployment of the product. Earlier in his career, Brinkley served as a senior architect/consultant for IBM and MCI, as well as CTO for Sprint PCS, and taught business courses at The University of Texas at San Antonio.

30. Rafael Pereira Company: Open Co Title: Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Rafael Pereira is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Open Co, a credit platform based in Brazil. The company's services leverage digital technologies that improve access to financial services, enabling people to get unsecured loans in a hassle-free way. Open Co was formed in March 2021 after Brazilian fintechs Geru and Rebel announced the merger of the two companies. With the merger, Open Co assumes a BRL 1.5 billion loans portfolio and a customer base of more than 100,000. The founders of the two companies expect Open Co to generate more than BRL 1 billion in credit in 2021.

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As CEO, Pereira brings with him many years of expertise in building companies from the ground up in the fintech sector. At the age of 11 he learned how to program C and has since developed a talent for building great teams and creating successful companies. Previously he co-founded the data, tech, and analytics-driven online platform, Rebel, which would eventually be spun into Open Co. Before that, Pereira spent over four years as president of ABCD (Associação Brasileira de Crédito Digital). Pereira received a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and his Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia University.

31. Dustin Yoder Company: Sureify Title: Chief Executive Officer With a mission to “modernize the life insurance and annuity industry,” Dustin Yoder is the Chief Executive Officer of Sureify, a role he’s held for just shy of nine years. Sureify is a SaaS platform for life insurance and annuity companies around the world. The company’s sales, customer self-service engagement solution, and their up-sell cross-sell solutions enable life insurers to connect, service, and sell to their new and existing customers using the most life insurance-focused platform on the market today. Yoder brings to the company consumer first thinking, and acumen as a product leader, strategist, business model builder, and technology builder.

Prior to Sureify, Yoder was the CEO and head of product for Vendus Product Labs. He was also the VP of business development and strategic partnerships at PandaDoc. As a senior leader, Yoder also worked at ProTech, Volt, and Cru for a period of almost five years. An active member in the community, Yoder is a mentor with the Global Insurance Accelerator.

Yoder received a degree in business management from San Jose State University, and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in finance and accounting from California Polytechnic State University.

32. Gary Beasley Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

Company: Roofstock

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Title: Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer With significant experience both as an operator and investor across multiple industries, Gary Beasley is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Roofstock. Founded six years ago, Roofstock is an innovative, technology-enabled marketplace and transaction platform that is designed to dramatically improve liquidity and lower transaction costs in the $2 trillion single-family rental (SFR) sector. The marketplace features leased, cash-flowing investment homes that have been certified and can be purchased online, with professional management in place. At Roofstock, Beasley drives a bottom line of making ownership of investment real estate radically accessible, cost-effective, and simple.

Prior to Roofstock, Beasley has grown small private companies, as well as steering large organizations. His impressive credentials include being co-chief executive officer of Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust for just over one year, leading the company to a successful IPO. He was also the CEO and chairman of Waypoint homes for two years. He was a partner of Geolo Capital for two years, and president and CEO of GreenVolts. As president and CFO of ZipReality, Inc., Beasley also led this company to a successful IPO. His prior experience includes leadership roles at KSL Resorts, Security Capital Group, and LeSalle Partners Ltd. Beasley has a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Northwestern University, and a Master of Business Administration degree in management and business from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

33. Michael Carvin Company: SmartAsset Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer Michael Carvin is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of SmartAsset, a company he has operated for 10 years.

SmartAsset is the web’s largest marketplace connecting consumers to financial advisors. Today, the company serves over 100 million people per month with a mission to help them get better financial advice. Recently, the company was named to Y Combinator’s list of Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

Sign Up Top 100 companies of all time. It is also recognized as a best startup to work for by Forbes.

Carvin has enabled SmartAsset to become the Internet’s most viewed source of personal finance information and advice. Under Carvin’s guidance, employees have developed and launched groups and initiatives that center around positive impact and change.

Prior to founding SmartAsset, Carvin was a senior associate at Altima Partners for four years, where he identified, analyzed, structured, executed, and monitored private equity investments globally, with a focus in agriculture and alternative energy. He also served as an analyst at Leucadia National Corporation for one year. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics with a certificate in politics from Princeton University.

34. David Barrett Company: Expensify Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer David Barrett is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Expensify, the most popular pre-accounting platform globally.

A lifelong programmer and one of the world’s top network engineers, Barrett created Expensify’s blockchain-powered database a year before Satoshi’s white paper on bitcoin.

Expensify keeps money moving by allowing users to reimburse expenses, manage business credit cards, and generate invoices from a convenient app. The app allows unlimited receipt scanning, mileage tracking, and next-day reimbursement to help users automate their preaccounting system.

Prior to founding Expensify in 2008, he led engineering for Red Swoosh — which was acquired

by Akamai Technologies in 2007 — and held various roles in 3D graphics and VR development. With his extensive technical and entrepreneurial background, Barrett has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Forbes, and Fast Company. He has also spoken before Congress and appeared in interviews on CNBC, Fox, and Bloomberg. He received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree in computer engineering from the University of Michigan.

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35. Ryan Williams Company: Cadre Title: Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ryan Williams co-founded the next-generation, technologyenabled investment platform Cadre in 2014. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer. Cadre is an online marketplace that provides institutions and individuals access to previously inaccessible, quality real estate and alternative investment opportunities. The platform enables transparent investing and provides investors unique liquidity opportunities, through the first of its kind secondary marketplace. In addition, Cadre’s platform supports more than $1.5 billion in assets under management and has closed dozens of secondary transactions through its online platform.

As CEO of Cadre, Williams has raised more than $133 million of corporate capital backed by investors such as Goldman Sachs, Andreessen Horowitz, Ford Foundation, Khosla Ventures, Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, and others. Prior to founding Cadre, Williams worked at The Blackstone Group in its real estate private equity division where he closed transactions in multiple asset classes. Prior to Blackstone, he worked at Goldman Sachs in its technology, media, and telecom group. He also held positions at Goldman Sachs as well as One Equity Partners. Williams holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College.

36. Peter De Caluwe Company: Thunes Position: Chief Executive Officer Peter De Caluwe is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Thunes, a Singapore-based global payment network that enables seamless cross-border transfers. The company provides transfer of funds between payment systems in over 100 countries and 60 different currencies. Today, Thunes processes more than 150 million transactions per year across 100 countries and has a global team of over 120 staff. De Caluwe has a demonstrated history of working in the financial Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

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services industry, with expertise in business development, electronic payments, sales, eCommerce, and credit cards.

For the last 25 years, De Caluwe has been a driving force in the payments ecosystem, scaling global businesses, building high-performing teams, and gaining deep knowledge about the industry. In the early 2000s, De Caluwe began his entrepreneurial journey in the payments space. He joined Ogone (now Ingenico ePayments) as COO and later CEO. In 2014, De Caluwe joined Naspers Limited, a global internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world, as CEO of payments. At the helm of DT One, De Caluwe incubated and launched Thunes, raising more than $150 million in funding and doubling its valuation in under two years. De Caluwe received his bachelor’s degree in marketing management from KU Leuven, Belgium's highest-ranked university.

37. Lawrence Smith Company: Provenir Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer A seasoned leader and entrepreneur, Lawrence Smith is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of New York-based Provenir. Founded in 2004, Provenir provides risk analytics and decisioning solutions across a broad range of financial verticals, including SME, consumer, cards, payments, eCommerce, and auto financing. With a focus on speed and simplicity, Provenir provides a risk analytics and decisioning platform that acts as a powerful orchestration hub that listens to any channel, integrates with any data service, and operationalizes any analytic model.

This, in turn, enables businesses to make the best possible decisions.

Prior to founding Provenir, Smith founded and was the chairman for Boston-based Kitewheel, a company he’s chaired from September 2014 until today. Kitewheel helps brands plan and deliver experiences across channels such as websites and social networks, among others. He was also previously the founder and CEO of Response Data Corporation, a company he ran for 12 years and 6 months until its acquisition by Metavante. Smith attended New York University.

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38. John M. Perry Company: Bluefin Title: Chief Executive Officer John M. Perry is the Chief Executive Officer of Bluefin, a payment security company based in Atlanta, Georgia. The fintech company was founded in 2007 and specializes in payment and data security technologies that protect point-ofsale (POS) as well as eCommerce and online transactions.

Bluefin currently has 200 integration partners serving 36 countries. In October of 2020 the company raised $25 million in growth capital, which it is planning to use to acquire other fintech companies that will allow Bluefin to expand its data privacy services, focused on encryption and tokenization. As CEO, Perry has led Bluefin's international expansion and successes. Perry is responsible for leading all aspects of the company’s strategic planning, including spearheading key commercial partnerships and acquisitions.

Prior to Bluefin, Perry held executive and management positions at several top eCommerce, technology, and finance companies. These include: chairman and CEO of Spectrum, an independent electronic bill-payments company; president and COO of NOVA Information Systems, a US Bancorp (USB) company; and executive positions with First Data (FISV), Visa (V), and Wells Fargo Bank (WFC). As a respected leader and executive, Perry has also served as a board member for the Forbes Finance Council and a trustee for The Galloway School.

Perry received his Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, later earning his Master of Management degree from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

39. Christian Wiens Company: Getsafe Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Christian Wiens is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Getsafe. Getsafe is on a mission to reinvent how people do insurance, building the radically best insurance experience at their fingertips. The company replaces complexity and manual Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

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customers to file claims or change their coverage in real-time with just a few clicks. Based in Germany, Getsafe is among the country's fastest growing and best-known insurtech startups with plans to expand into other European markets. In the last twelve months alone, Getsafe has entered the British market, increased its number of customers to more than 175,000, and now employs over 120 people. Launched in 2015, Getsafe is funded by several of Europe's leading VC investors, including Earlybird, CommerzVentures, Capnamic Ventures, and Partech. In December 2020, the company closed a $30 million Series B funding led by Swiss Re, making it one of Europe’s top 10 financed European insurtechs.

An engineer by education, Wiens is a young yet already an experienced digital entrepreneur with a strong tech background. Prior to co-founding Getsafe, Wiens was CEO and co-founder of Gourmeo, a German-based platform for restaurant reservations. An entrepreneur at heart, Wiens is also involved as a business angel, supporting startups such as nuwo and One Dental.

In 2011, Wiens received a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from TU Darmstadt.

40. Mark Lenhard Company: Invoice2go Title: Chief Executive Officer and Board Member Mark Lenhard is the Chief Executive Officer of Invoice2go, a technology company that empowers independent small businesses with straightforward tools that simplify their dayto-day workflow, including managing customer relationships, sending invoices, accepting payments, improving cash flow, creating an online presence, and much more. With a heavy focus on freelancers and small businesses, the application is cloud-based and sold by subscription. Prices are based on the quantity of invoices, clients, and account managers. Since its 2002 inception in Erina, Australia, the company has grown to serve 220,000+ freelancers and small business owners in 160+ countries who send $24+ billion in invoices every year.

With over 10 years of fintech experience, Lenhard assumed CEO duties at Invoice2go in April 2020, right as the pandemic hit. Since then, Lenhard has had a big impact on his company's growth as it expands into new markets and develops additional features, ultimately helping business owners get paid faster. Prior to Invoice2go, Lenhard worked at PayPal for four years, Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter where he ran global strategy. Lenhard also spent time as a managing director at ChaseSign Up

Paymentech and worked alongside the cards group and Chase Sapphire team. More recently, Lenhard was part of the management team that spun Magento out of eBay, grew the business, and ultimately sold it to Adobe. He serves as a board member (Deep Lake Capital, Modo), advisor to various commerce & fintech companies (Zmags,Bolt), and seed investor to a number of growth companies in commerce and financial services. Lenhard received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Yale University before earning his Master of Business Administration degree from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

41. Mazy Dar Company: OpenFin Title: Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Mazy Dar is Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of OpenFin, which provides an open and integrated desktop application ecosystem for financial firms. Headquartered in New York, the company platform standardizes the operating environment for financial applications to share information in a seamless and secure manner in the same way that Apple iOS or Google Android allows Uber to seamlessly leverage other apps on the device such as maps, chat, contacts, etc. While the industry faced substantial challenges in 2020, OpenFin’s expansive ecosystem continued to grow. OpenFin is now used by 90% of global financial institutions, deploying more than 3,500 applications across 300,000 desktops.

Since the company’s launch in 2010, Dar has been responsible for setting the overall direction and product strategy of the company. Prior to OpenFin, Dar was vice president of CDS Strategy at Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), where he was responsible for ICE's CDS strategy and managed the company's CDS e-trading and processing platforms. Before ICE, Dar served as chief strategy officer of Creditex Group, Inc., where he was a key architect of Creditex's innovative products and services. He started his career at UBS as a software programmer.

Dar attended Cornell University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in computer science and French literature.

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42. Christine Pierson Company: Tresl Title: President and Chief Executive Officer As President and Chief Executive Officer of Tresl, Christine Pierson leads a consumer finance company with strategic B2B relationships in the automotive industry coupled with national and regional lenders that serve over 33,000 applicants per month and billions in loans since its inception in 2007. Tresl is an auto finance support platform that allows car owners to reach their financial potential. The company connects consumers with personalized financial resources to deliver savings while providing both a cutting-edge technology as well as a team of expert advisors.

Preceding her role in fintech, Pierson served as executive vice president of UMB Financial Corporation’s Consumer Services Division serving as a member of the executive management team. Prior to joining UMBFC, Pierson was vice president of sales for Bayer Healthcare Corporation’s Animal Health Division. She served in several executive leadership roles at AT&T, including sales vice president for Global Business Services and director of business development for the Solutions group, where she directed strategies and tactics for outsourcing engagements in areas like telecom security, business continuity, and IT department management for large global enterprise clients. Pierson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia, a Master of Business Administration degree from Rockhurst University, and is a graduate of the Stonier School of Banking and Leadership at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

43. Adam Roseman Company: Steady Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Adam Roseman is a leader who puts social responsibility at the core of his company’s drives. Currently, he is the Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of Steady, a company that builds tech to optimize the income potential of hourly and Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

Sign Up gig workers. In less than the first two years of launch, Steady

has acquired over 2 million members who’ve seen a lift in their average incomes of over $5,500 per year. This effort was doubled down during the COVID-19 pandemic where Steady developed and led programs to distribute and automate the impact measurement of over $3 million in emergency grants to underserved populations.

Roseman started his career in investment banking, first as an investment banking intern at Piper Jaffray for a year, before holding the same role at Goldman Sachs. From there he worked at Lehman Brothers for three years and led M&A at Barrington Associates Investment Bankers for three years following. After being made partner at ARC in China for a period of six years, Roseman co-founded and was the CEO of his first company, FansTang between Los Angeles and Shanghai. He has a degree in business and managerial economics from UC Santa Cruz.

44. Matt Rodak Company: Fund That Flip Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer Matt Rodak is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fund That Flip, a venture-backed real estate investment marketplace specializing in short-term loans for residential real estate investors. Rodak established the New York-based company in 2014, driven by his passion for residential real estate investing and the belief that the lending industry could be revolutionized. Fund That Flip offers a transparent, streamlined online application process with a 24-hour turnaround time for funding commitments. Under Rodak's leadership, the company has grown exponentially, recently raising $11 million in a Series A funding round and landing on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies two years in a row.

Rodak is also a Mentor at the Founder Institute, where he provides guidance for early-stage entrepreneurs. Before founding Fund That Flip, Rodak was at FM Global where he worked in sales and marketing and eventually rose to the role of business development executive. Prior to this, he was the production underwriter at Affiliated FM, networking director at The Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club, community relationship manager at ASAP, and an associate recruiter at AHRA, Ltd. He received a degree in finance from John Carroll University.

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45. Martin Markiewicz Company: Silent Eight Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer Martin Markiewicz is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Silent Eight, a technology company founded in 2013 that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered solutions to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crime. The company is leveraging AI to create compliance models that provide audit trails and reporting functionality, giving clients complete transparency into all decisions that are made. Silent Eight is working to support its clients in their goal to protect vulnerable populations from the human cost of financial crime. With his 16 years of experience in software and artificial intelligence solutions covering a wide range of applications, Markiewicz has taken the challenge of helping banks outsmart financial criminals and money launderers, who are gaming their transaction systems, head-on.

With an educational background in mathematics, Markiewicz is a serial entrepreneur and selfdescribed “problem solver.” Prior to Silent Eight, he launched several successful startups in Europe and Asia, including a hydropower startup called Sevenflow Investments that saw a successful IPO. Prior to that, he was strategic sales director at Wola Info S.A., one of the largest IT system integrators in Poland. He was also CEO and founder of konsultant.it.

46. Robin Gregg Company: RoadSync Title: Chief Executive Officer Robin Gregg is the Chief Executive Officer at RoadSync, a cutting-edge digital payment platform geared toward the transportation industry. With RoadSync, clients are able to experience secure and efficient payment acceptance with a streamlined experience for stakeholders, enabling significant operational savings. With expertise in small business marketing and sales/distribution Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

Sign Up strategies, payments, partnership development, and financial solutions for small businesses,

Gregg brings a wealth of knowledge relevant to RoadSync as well as an extensive leadership career of achievement.

Prior to joining RoadSync she was the founder and owner of SalesXMachine. She proceeded this with almost seven years at Fleetcor where she helmed various roles from VP, to SVP, to SVP/GM. She further held leadership positions as SVP of product development and strategy at Revolution Money and senior director of provider strategy at Capital One Healthcare Finance across the span of eight years. Gregg earned her chops in the industry by starting out at Charles River Associates for four years. Gregg has a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and East Asian studies from Washington and Lee University, as well as a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School.

47. Joanne Dewar Company: Global Processing Services (GPS) Title: Chief Executive Officer Joanne Dewar is the Chief Executive Officer of Global Processing Services (GPS), the trusted and proven go-to payments processing partner for today’s leading challenger brands, including Revolut, Starling Bank, and Curve.

Since joining the company in 2013, Dewar has spearheaded the transformation of GPS from start-up to private equity-backed scale-up, cementing the business’ position as the bedrock of the fintech ecosystem, as it continues to accelerate the delivery of better financial experiences for every customer.

Dewar is a recognized leader and influencer in the payments industry, having been selected as one of the top 25 fintech CEOS in Europe for 2020, alongside leaders from Klarna, TransferWise (now Wise), and Funding Circle. Prior to GPS, she worked as a branch chair for NCT Charity, a project manager for BP, and also held roles at Aviva as well as PwC. Dewar received her Master of Arts degree with honors in geography from the University of Oxford.

48. Pierre Mendelsohn Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

Company: ALPIMA

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Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer Pierre Mendelsohn is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ALPIMA, an advisory firm that specializes in quantitative investment strategies for professional and institutional investors. Based in London, the company designed and built the ALPIMA platform around the concept of Object-Oriented Investing (TM). The cloud-native, modular platform combines the latest advances in technology, data science, and artificial intelligence, with decades of industry experience. Since its launch in 2014, the company has seen tremendous growth, with clients that include private banking group Julius Baer and Bluebay Asset Management. The firm is also backed by the proprietary investment arm of Fidelity, Fidelity Ventures.

Mendelsohn has been involved in quantitative strategies all along his career, having held various positions over two decades on the trading floors of top investment banks across the globe. Along with his teams, Mendelsohn has launched numerous investment products and systematic strategies which, in total, collected tens of billions of dollars from institutional and high-net-worth (HNW) clients. Before ALPIMA, Mendelsohn was a managing director with Morgan Stanley for four years. Before that, he was a managing director with Merrill Lynch for eleven years in London. Mendelsohn also worked in Global Markets and Risk Analytics with Bankers Trust in London and New York, and as a management consultant with Oliver Wyman & Company in New York. Mendelsohn holds a Master of Science in Engineering degree in mechanical & aerospace engineering from Princeton University and a Master of Science degree in engineering and computational fluid dynamics from The Grenoble Institute of Technology in France.

49. Peter Hazlehurst Company: Synctera Title: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer A major player in the tech leadership field with 30 years’ experience, Peter Hazlehurst is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Synctera. Since launching in September 2020, Synctera is actively seeking to close the gap between community banks and fintechs to Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

Sign Up empower consumers with fast, secure, and scalable partnership banking solutions. Synctera

aims to tear down integration complexity and build bridges. In its eight months of operation, Synctera has already acquired $12.4 million in seed funding.

Hazlehurst’s notable roles include being the head of Uber money. He preceded this with 25 years as the CEO of Knowledge Soup. During that time, he also served for one year as the CEO of The Perfect Sip between 2017 and 2018, and was the founder and CEO of AngelScholars between 2015 and 2016. In 2014, he was the COO for Postmates. Hazlehurst has also spent two years as a senior director and board member at Google, and as CEO and board member of Google Payments Corporation. He has been a member of the board of directors for AncorID, as well as Boyden NY. Hazlehurst received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.

50. David Kerr Company: bonkers.ie Title: Founder and Chief Executive Officer David Kerr is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of bonkers.ie, a Dublin-based fintech company that operates Ireland's leading online price comparison and switching platform. Founded in 2010, bonkers.ie is a customer acquisition platform enabling straight-through-processing.

The company helps consumers compare products, prices, and features across a wide range of sectors. Whether a consumer is looking for cheaper gas and electricity, faster broadband, a lower mortgage rate, or better insurance coverage, bonkers.ie can help. Each year the awardwinning firm delivers multi-million euro in revenue streams to its partners.

An Irish native, Kerr has been providing consumer-grade product comparison software and services from Dublin for more than two decades. Prior to launching bonkers.ie, Kerr was the chairman of the Irish Internet Association. Before that, Kerr was the founder and owner of Ladybug Childcare, a childcare business. He was also the CEO, CTO, and lead architect for Xelector PLC, having previously started his career as a lead researcher at Broadcom Éireann Sign up for free TFTR email newsletter

Sign Up Research. Kerr holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and computer science from

University College Dublin. He also received his Master of Science degree in electronic engineering from the Chalmers University of Technology.

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