The Next Frontier in FinTech: A Discussion with Leading FinTech VCs

Edward has 15+ years of investment experience in the U.S. and China, including a successful track record with investments such as Cruise Automation (acq. by GM), Life360 (IPO), Palantir (IPO), and Brave Software. In addition, Edward has served on the limited partner advisory committees at Cendana Capital and Ten Eleven Ventures, and he has deep operating experience at tech and cybersecurity companies. Most recently, he was Director of Investments at enterprise security company Qianxin, where he led $700 million in fundraising, ran multiple M&A deals, and managed a large investment portfolio. As Assistant GM for Qianxin, he also incubated their cybersecurity spinout fund Security Capital. At 360, he led International Investments and Strategic Development. He started his venture career as Vice President at DCM, a global early-stage VC firm managing $4 billion. He holds BS and MS degrees in Computer Science from UCLA, where he is a Kauffman Fellow (class of ’15).

Mickey is a fintech investor at SoftBank Vision Fund, a global growth-stage fund. Within the fintech universe, Mickey covers insurance, capital markets tech, blockchain, and proptech. Before Vision Fund, Mickey was a consultant at McKinsey & Co. advising VC/PE and education clients on strategy, turnarounds, and diligence. He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with degrees in Mathematics, East Asian Studies, and Finance.

Don is a Managing Director at Thomvest Ventures, a venture fund focused on companies in fintech, martech, and cybersecurity. Don’s investments in financial technology startups include Blend (NYSE: BLND), Carta, Capchase, Figure, Kabbage (acquired by American Express), Ladder Life, LendingClub (NYSE: LC), Ocrolus, SoFi (NASDAQ: SOFI), Tala, and Unqork. His investments in marketing technologies include DataXu (acquired by Roku), NetBase Quid, Singular, and Vungle (acquired by Blackstone). His investments in cybersecurity include Cylance (acquired by Blackberry), FlashSoft (acquired by SanDisk), GuardianEdge (acquired by Symantec), and Okena (acquired by Cisco). Prior to joining Thomvest, Don helped lead the Asian business development efforts for several startups in the data analysis and networking industries as part of his work with Asia Pacific Ventures. Prior to that, he spent three years as an Analyst with Lehman Brothers. Don received a B.A. in Chinese from UCLA and M.A.s in both East Asian Studies and Political Science from Stanford University.

Victoria is a Partner at PruVen Capital. She specializes in FinTech, InsureTech, HealthTech, and Enterprise SaaS. Previously, she served as Director of Venture Investing at Citi Ventures, where she was an investor in companies such as Plaid, DataRobot, Immuta, Bluevine, Braze, Hopper, Tealium, and TMP. There, she also launched and led the Citi Impact Fund for Citi Ventures, a $200MM program created in joint partnership with Citi SPRINT and GPA, to invest into sustainability, infrastructure (housing, transportation, healthcare), workforce development, and financial capability. This team also drove the development of a Seed Program to invest in very early stage startups founded by women and minorities to increase the pipeline of diverse founders. Previously, Victoria was a Senior Associate at Core Innovation Capital, a FinTech venture capital firm investing in the democratization of financial services, where she was involved with investments in TIO Networks, Ripple, and Oportun. Prior to Core, she consulted for Foundation Capital, and worked with NYC Seed to build its Seed Start Media Accelerator. Her experience before venture investing, includes working with startup, NimbleTV, private equity investing, and investment banking focused on power & utilities.Victoria graduated with honors from Columbia Business School, and received her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, where she graduated magna cum laude. She is a Kauffman Fellow and an InSITE Fellow. Victoria is passionate about diversity and inclusion. She was a founding member of Women in Venture and serves on the advisory board of Money2020’s Rise Up program. In her spare time, Victoria can usually be found rockclimbing in the Bay Area.