Arjuna Costa Managing Partner Flourish Ventures Arjuna is driven by a deep compassion for vulnerable populations across the globe, and partners with entrepreneurs using innovative technologies to enhance their customers’ financial well-being. As a managing partner, he co-manages Flourish, with a primary focus on venture investing across emerging markets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Before Flourish, Arjuna was a partner at Omidyar Network, where he built a global portfolio of early-stage, inclusive fintech companies. Prior to that, Arjuna developed a deep understanding of the potential to radically alter traditional “brick-and-mortar” economics through mobile money solutions for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Before that, he invested equity and debt in consumer finance companies in emerging markets at The Rohatyn Group, a multi-billion dollar emerging markets investment firm. In 2003, Arjuna cofounded a $120-million private equity fund focused on the turnaround of distressed commercial banks in Africa. The fund grew out of advising governments on the restructuring and privatization of its banking sector. Arjuna began his career at Lehman Brothers, where he spent five years financing power plants and airports globally. Arjuna earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in computer science from Columbia University.
Interviews
Nuno Goncalves Pedro Founder/Managing Partner Strive Capital #fintechinvesting
Nuno Goncalves Pedro Founder/Managing Partner Strive Capital Nuno is Grishin Robotics’ Venture Partner. Grishin Robotics is a series A and B Sand Hill Rd firm focused on Smart Hardware with investments in companies such as Zume Pizza, Starship, Zipline, Spin, Yellow, Ring, eero and others. He is also the Managing Partner & Founder of Strive Capital, the San Francisco Bay area’s first quant micro-VC firm, now focused on “deep” AI and Blockchain, with investments in companies like AppAnnie, KeepSafe, Gusto and Rubrik. He has had a 22 year career in Tech as a Product Manager, Operator, Investor and Board member in the Bay area, Europe and Asia, and was previously a Senior Expert and member of the Asia-Pacific leadership team at McKinsey & Co, based in Beijing.
Michael Sidgmore CoFounder/Partner Broadhaven Ventures #fintechinvesting
Michael Sidgmore CoFounder/Partner Broadhaven Ventures, an early-stage FinTech VC, where he has led investments into Credijusto, ScaleFactor, Nowports, Kovi, Harvest Savings & Wealth Technologies, Beam Solutions, Liveoak Technologies, Starship HSA, and house of gigs. He has spent his career as a financial technology investor and entrepreneur focused on the financial infrastructure, wealth management, and speciality finance sectors and is an active investor in US and Latin American FinTech companies. Prior to Broadhaven Ventures, he was a pre-product employee and SVP at iCapital Network, where he helped build the family office and RIA networks of the online investment platform that has over $40B in assets and has received over $50M in funding from investors, including BlackRock, Blackstone, and Carlyle. Prior to iCapital Network, Michael was the first sales hire and Director of Institutional Investments at Mosaic, a financing platform for residential solar loans that has originated over $1 billion and has received over $300M in funding from Warburg Pincus. He was formerly an investment professional with Goldman Sachs’ Principal Strategic Investments group in London, a direct investing team focused on market structure and financial technology. Michael is a Board Member of Starship HSA and a Board Observer at ScaleFactor, Credijusto, Harvest Savings & Wealth Technologies, and Liveoak Technologies. He is also the Founder and Managing Member of M4Fund and Sixth Man Capital. Michael holds a BSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics.
Matthew Murphy Partner Montage Ventures #fintechinvesting
Matthew Murphy Partner Montage Ventures, with a focus on backing entrepreneurs looking to disrupt Financial Services, HealthCare and the Future of Retail. Previously, Matt was the Global Vice President of Renren (NYSE: RENN) and was focused on building their global investment portfolio in the FinTech, Logistics and Marketplaces. In addition, Matthew was the CMO for Renren’s Real Estate Technology Group, which is made up of Chime Technologies, Geographic Farm and Sindeo. Previously, Matthew was the Chief Marketing Officer & Co-Founder of Lemon.com, a leading mobile wallet solution (Acquired by LifeLock), General Manager of Bling Nation, a provider of mobile payment services; and the CMO at Chegg (NYSE: CHGG), the leader in textbook rentals. Matthew was also the head of Advertising & Media at E*TRADE Financial (NASDAQ: ETFC) and won numerous awards for his work, including a Clio, Effie and Stevie Award. Matthew earned his Master’s in Business Administration from The Christos M. Cotsakos College of Business at William Paterson University, holds a degree in finance from Santa Clara University and attended executive marketing education courses at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.