Breyer Capital: Investing in the Future of Fintech

Although Breyer Capital invests across categories, we have our specialties and sector-specific theses. In past posts, I’ve explored some of these. I’ve written about our approach to AI investing and our Healthcare AI portfolio and have shed light on specific investments like AppHarvest, Paige, Subtle Medical, Circle, and VeChain. In future posts, I hope to share more about how we think about sustainability, emerging markets, cryptocurrency, NFTs, proptech, and mission-driven consumer companies.

In this post, I will share how we think about fintech investing and announce some of our newest fintech investments.

Fintech has emerged as one of the hottest spaces in venture. The category is broad and encompasses everything from companies that sell to the financial services industry to companies that build and scale their own financial products. As I will highlight, we’ve made vertical bets in everything from banking to insurance.

At a high level, though, at least for Breyer Capital, our fintech thesis boils down to two fundamental themes: our fintech investments are global and are rooted in a long-term mission of financial inclusion.

With portfolio companies in the US, Europe, China, Southeast Asia, and Africa, we believe that fintech innovation is possible and necessary in every market. Furthermore, while our companies are attacking different problems and taking different approaches, they all aspire to unlock opportunity and provide more people with financial tools that have historically only been available to a select few.

We at Breyer Capital imagine a future where individuals and enterprises across the planet are leveraging technology to invest money, save money, spend money, and send money. Consumers and companies in emerging markets such as Africa should have the same access and tools as consumers and companies in the US and Europe. No matter where someone lives and no matter their current socioeconomic status, every person should have access to disruptive fintech platforms and, consequently, a better financial future. For too long, the financial services industry has best served elite stakeholders. Technology can and should level the playing field, democratizing financial freedom in unprecedented ways.

I have been investing in fintech for three decades, but the category has never been more compelling than it is today. I’m not surprised that venture capitalists are investing in fintech deals at a record pace, and I’m not surprised by the historic success that fintech behemoths like Stripe, Coinbase, and Robinhood have had. Despite all the noise and attention, though, this seems like the early innings of a fintech future. We at Breyer Capital couldn’t be more excited to play a small role in what is sure to be an exciting decade for the sector.

We owe a debt of gratitude to our current fintech portfolio. Our experiences working with standout companies like Circle, Stash, and Kensho have informed so much of our current thinking around the space. In many cases, founders at these companies and others have introduced deals — many of which are included below. As chairman of IDG-Capital, I also have the privilege of staying up to date on the latest Chinese and Asian fintech developments, innovations, and successes.

My continued work with and appreciation for the Facebook team has also proven tremendously helpful to our fintech investing strategy and current fintech portfolio. Facebook remains a leader in so many categories and their work on Diem and broader payments infrastructure has been deeply informative. We’re also grateful, as always, to our venture capital peers at other firms. Breyer Capital remains a collaborative firm, and our friends at Sequoia, General Catalyst, Smash Ventures, Goodwater, Valar Ventures, Hedosophia, Bessemer, and so many others have been instrumental to our success.

And now it is a privilege to announce some of our new fintech investments. We have others that we will announce shortly or will keep stealth, but the list below should give readers a good indication of what we look for in fintech companies and fintech founders.

Newest Additions to the Fintech Portfolio

Bestow is a full-stack insurance technology company that builds products and software that make life insurance accessible to millions of families. In addition to its direct-to-consumer arm, Bestow provides industry-first APIs enabling partners to offer customized life insurance coverage. We were introduced to Bestow by the founders at our portfolio company Stash. Stash and Bestow have a terrific partnership. Bestow is based in Dallas and Austin and we invested alongside some of our favorite funds, like Valar Ventures. The company is growing quickly and publicly announced that sales were up 450 percent year-over-year from January 2020 to October 2020.

Chaka, based in Nigeria, was founded to remove global investment barriers between Africa and the rest of the world — making it easier to access opportunities at home and abroad. Chaka believes that Africans should have ample opportunities to travel, trade, and invest around the world. We are seed investors in Chaka and have been impressed with the team’s growth and rapid pace of learning. We invested alongside two of our favorite African-based funds, 4DX and GoldenPalm.

BlockFi, based in New York, is a cryptocurrency company that offers interest-earning accounts, low-cost USD loans secured with crypto, and fee-free trading. Today BlockFi users can use cryptocurrency to earn interest at up to 8.6% APY, borrow cash, and buy or sell crypto. There are no hidden fees and no minimum balances. We are grateful to Valar Ventures for introducing us and continue to be impressed by the company’s rapid growth.

The Chia Network team, based in San Francisco, developed a blockchain and smart transaction platform that implements the first new Nakamoto consensus algorithm since Bitcoin in 2008. On the Chia network, proofs of Space and Time replace energy-intensive “proofs of work.” Chia’s mission is to reduce the energy dependence of blockchains through a “greener” option. Bram Cohen, the best network protocol engineer alive and the inventor of BitTorrent, is Chia’s founder and CEO. We first invested in Chia in 2018 and have been strong supporters of the company since.

imToken, based in Singapore, has built an accessible, secure, and feature-rich digital wallet. With 12 million users from over 150 countries, $50 billion in assets on the platform, and total transaction value exceeding $500 billion, imToken is already one of the largest crypto wallets in the world. Bin He is a gifted founder who Breyer Capital has worked closely with for over four years. Breyer Capital and IDG Capital are both investors in imToken. We can’t wait to help the company achieve its long-term goal of making blockchain accessible to the masses.

Neo Financial, based in Calgary, is reimagining the Canadian banking experience by building next-generation spending and savings technology from the ground up. Prior to founding Neo, Andrew Chau and team built SkipTheDishes into a top 10 brand in Canada. Neo offers a cashback credit card and a savings account, accessible through their app. To earn rewards, users simply pay with their Neo credit card at a partnered store. The more they use their Neo card, the better the rewards get. Breyer Capital invested in Neo alongside Valar Ventures.

Point, based in New York, has built the first debit card to combine the rewards of high-end credit cards with the inherent advantages of debit cards. Point cardholders benefit from world-class rewards without the baggage of credit card debt and interest payments. Breyer Capital invested in Point alongside Valar Ventures.

The Taptap Send team, based in New York with operations in Africa, has built an app that lets people send money back home to Africa and Asia instantly and at very low prices. Since launching in summer 2018, they’ve already moved tens of millions of dollars and reached tens of thousands of customers. Global remittances account for over $500 billion annually, most of which moves back into developing countries. But the market is dominated by traditional services that are expensive, can take days to arrive, and have limited reach in rural areas. Taptap Send is helping people send that money instantly and securely at a fraction of the cost.

Upsolve, based in New York, is a non-profit that gives users easy access to the bankruptcy system. Thousands of Americans use Upsolve’s free nonprofit tool to generate their Chapter 7 bankruptcy forms and relieve their debt. Users also receive free education, community, and support. Founder/CEO Rohan Pavuluri is one of the most ambitious and forward-thinking founders in our portfolio and we are grateful to be his longtime partner.

Viva Wallet, based in Greece, is our newest addition to our fintech portfolio. We invested alongside our friends at Tencent and Hedosophia. Viva Wallet was founded to disrupt a slow-paced industry and make payments simple, smart, fast, and reliable. Viva Wallet will soon have operations in 26 European countries. We believe that Viva Wallet is at the forefront of a paradigm shift for fintech and together, we expect to transform the payments industry in Europe.

Yoco, based in South Africa, is building a financial platform for South African small businesses. Yoco offers small businesses the tools to accept digital payments in a unified way (both at the point of sale and online), run their business better through intelligent software, and grow through cash advances. We invested in Yoco alongside 4DX, Raba Capital, and To Ventures.

Zen Business, based in Austin, offers an online platform and community that makes it easy to create, manage and grow a small business year-round. Built for the new generation, the company pulls everything together for the business owner with mobile and web-based products, support, and services. We invested in Zen Business alongside some of our favorite Austin-based investors like Adam Zeplain at Mark.VC and Brett Hurt, founder/CEO of Breyer Capital portfolio company data.world.