We invest in high-margin, fast-growing technology companies that are pursuing huge market opportunities.
Wise is a peer-to-peer currency exchange service that allows its users to send money overseas easily and inexpensively.
Traditionally, large financial institutions dominated cross-currency transactions, charging hefty fees (often several percent of the amount sent) and taking hours or days to settle the trade. By coordinating transfer needs within countries across its massive user base, Wise makes transferring money more efficient and passes considerable savings along to users.
N26 is a new European bank focused on building an innovative mobile-first banking experience.
Unlike brick and mortar banks, N26 was built with the modern customer in mind, offering the option for instant push notifications for all transactions, innovative security features, free ATM withdrawals, no foreign transaction fees, an easy to use personal financial management tool, and a remote sign up process that takes less than 10 minutes.
Stash is on a mission to empower a new generation of investors, giving everyone access to financial opportunity.
Stash is a community for people who want to start saving and investing and who don’t want to rely on a black box service to do it for them. Its platform helps people take ownership and become confident investors. Starting with as little as $5, Stash investors build a portfolio of investments that aligns with their interests, beliefs and goals.
Qonto provides digital banking services to entrepreneurs, SMEs and startups.
Qonto aims to become the next generation bank for entrepreneurs, SMEs and startups by providing an online service that allows users to create an account in less than five minutes. With Qonto, you can instantly receive an IBAN and get started managing your company’s physical and digital business cards and performing day-to-day operations.
Xero provides cloud accounting software and services for small businesses and their advisors.
Xero fills the gap between legacy accounting systems trapped on the desktop (and used by vendors primarily to peddle expensive add-ons) and ad hoc systems (paper slips; excel spreadsheets): Xero provides one clean and intuitive package with a full accrual accounting system, including cashbook, automated daily bank feeds, invoicing, payroll, sales tax and reporting.
(Initial Valar investment October 2010; final exit June 2020)
Octane makes financing large purchases of powersports equipment at the point of sale as painless as cash.
Octane is a point of sale financing platform disrupting the $60B consumer recreational and agricultural vehicle market. Its mission is to become the first choice by making financing as painless as cash in markets where incumbent solutions are expensive, time consuming, and manual. Octane partners with manufacturers to offer competitive pricing and utilize technology and proprietary data models to accelerate the loan underwriting and closing process.
Bitpanda is a leading European neobroker on a mission to democratize the complex world of investing.
Even though money is an integral part of our daily lives, there are significant barriers that limit most people's control over it. A rusty financial industry has made investing complicated, frustrating and unnecessarily difficult. Bitpanda removes these barriers by harnessing the innovative power of digitized assets and blockchain technology. With low fees, 24/7 trading, and real-time settlement, Bitpanda empowers users to shape their financial futures - on their own terms.
Bestow is a smarter approach to life insurance. By marrying data with technology, Bestow can bring simple and affordable coverage to everyone.
Bestow is a smarter approach to life insurance. Affordable prices. A+ rated policies. Instant decisions. No medical exams required. With a brand new underwriting framework and a first-of-its-kind experience, Bestow is bringing life insurance within reach for more people than ever before.
Taxfix is a digital tax accountant on the mobile phone that makes tax filing a piece of cake.
Tax filing with forms takes hours and requires expert knowledge. Taxfix disrupts the industry by offering a smart assistant on the phone that asks users simple questions and optimizes their taxes intelligently. With its underlying tax engine, Taxfix's systems can generate the smartest questions, allowing the company to quickly scale its technology across markets.
The app and debit card created to change your relationship with money. A simpler life just a click away.
Albo is the leading Mexican challenger bank that helps people manage their money through an honest service that cares about them. Albo offers a premium service with no fees and it takes only 3 minutes to open an account.
Petal is a new kind of credit card company on a mission to make credit honest, simple, and accessible.
Millions of Americans are locked out of credit due to the limitations of credit scoring, and millions more are trapped in debt that they don’t understand and struggle to afford. Petal expands access to safe and affordable credit by underwriting cash flows instead of just credit scores, and helps users build credit and achieve better financial outcomes with behavioral science and smart, intuitive product design.
Neo Financial is reimagining the Canadian banking experience by building next generation spending and savings technology from the ground up.
Today, with just the push of a button, we can hail a ride, have hot food delivered or stream our favorite show on demand, yet, the innovations we see in these industries have failed to translate into everyday banking in Canada. Neo Financial is reimagining how spending and savings should be by building Neo from the ground-up using today’s technology. Neo offers a no-annual-fee credit card and high-interest savings account, while also giving Neo members access to instant rewards from hundreds of brands – all on one card.
Moss is a technology-based payment and credit card platform that enables companies to optimize their finances.
Moss is a technology-based payment and credit card platform that enables companies to optimize their finances. Startups, tech companies, and SMEs can issue employee and team credit cards and manage all company spending using the Moss software platform that is powered by a proprietary card issuing and risk engine. Time-saving accounting automation and export features complement the offering.
Atlas is the first charge card for modern explorers.
Unlike credit card companies that often encourage customers to overspend, Atlas promotes sustainable spending by offering a debit card that prevents customers from going into debt, while simultaneously providing all the high-value benefits associated with elite credit cards. Atlas is delivering customers a transparent and rewarding spending experience, all paired with a seamless mobile app.
Kuda, “The Bank of the Free”, is on a mission to make financial services more accessible, affordable, and rewarding for every African.
Most traditional banks in Africa overcharge their customers for basic banking services. Starting with Nigeria, Kuda is giving Africans -- whether on the continent or in the diaspora -- a better alternative, with personal and business banking delivered through digital devices, free transfers, smart budgeting and instant access to credit.
Jetty is a financial services company that designs insurance products and solutions to help people navigate the obstacle course of life.
Jetty is a new kind of insurance company designed to help people in cities reach their goals faster by removing obstacles and risks. Its mission is to protect its customers against setbacks of all kinds, from fire and theft to wasted time and money.
Syfe is building the future of consumer investment and savings.
Syfe removes barriers to investing and strives to democratize the world of wealth accumulation. By incorporating cutting edge technology, Syfe cuts out the middleman and provides unbiased, comprehensive investment and saving services - for everyone.
BukuWarung is building the super app for 60 million micro, small and medium-sized merchants in Indonesia.
BukuWarung's mission is to empower Indonesian merchants with the digital infrastructure to effectively manage and grow their businesses. The company's accounting app tracks all business transactions including credit, expense and sales, and provides cash flow visibility through business reports. Merchants see faster repayments and increased cash flow due to automatic payment reminders sent by the app. BukuWarung plans to expand its financial services offerings beyond bookkeeping and digital payments to include lending for working capital, savings, and insurance products.
Even is the bank app that plans, so you don’t have to.
170 million Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Financial institutions charge those Americans over $100 billion each year in overdraft and payday loan fees. Even helps people break out of that cycle, with an automated financial manager, and the ability to safely withdraw wages ahead of payday. Fortune 500 companies like Walmart offer Even as a benefit to their employees.
(Acquired by Walmart, March 2022)
Shares is a "social-first" consumer investing neobroker.
You're tired of investing in one app, sharing trading strategies with friends on another app, and then browsing Reddit, Twitter and YouTube to follow the latest investment trends. With Shares, everyone from first time investors to financial veterans can buy stocks, react to the market in real-time, start conversations with friends and access educational content all in a single place.
Novo is the award-winning, powerfully simple business banking platform built for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs.
Big banks don’t provide the access, assistance and modern tools that small business owners need to successfully grow their business. Novo is on a mission to increase the GDP of the modern entrepreneur by creating the go-to banking platform for small businesses (SMBs) as well as tools to help them save time and increase their cash flow. Novo is flipping the script of the banking world, and is excited to lead the small business banking revolution.
Majority is the first mobile banking service dedicated to serving migrants, the most ambitious people in the world.
Majority is empowering migrants by breaking down the barriers of banking and offering affordable cross-border services. For $5 a month, Majority members in the U.S. receive an FDIC insured account, Visa® debit card, use of more than 55,000 ATMs across North America, remittance and international calling, in-person native language advisors, and access to Majority's network of community meet-up spaces, local discounts, and events.
XanPool is an internationally compliant SWIFT-like network for digital payment solutions like cryptocurrency and e-wallets.
XanPool's open finance and payment network allows individuals and businesses to increase the yield on their idle capital by using it to settle cross-currency and cryptocurrency transactions worldwide.
Velocity empowers digital-first businesses with better financing products.
Velocity is building the future of business financing. Businesses have evolved but their financing providers haven’t. Traditional sources of capital are slow, cumbersome and inaccessible to digital-first businesses. Velocity's revenue-based financing presents a new alternative for entrepreneurs to keep growing their businesses - on their own terms.
Parker powers the growth of online brands, by equipping them with a corporate card and financial operating system that are designed for their needs.
Parker’s solutions are purpose-built for e-Comm sellers, by e-Comm sellers, and grew directly from the founders’ prior career in the space. Parker’s key advantage is visibility. Parker builds a sharp picture of each store’s performance, unlocking the card, credit terms, and analytics that will help that e-Comm grow. By empowering online sellers, Parker’s goal is to create more financially independent people.
Simpl is a checkout network in India that builds consumer trust in ecommerce by improving the user experience.
Simpl’s mission is to empower small and medium sized online businesses in India by providing products and infrastructure that eliminate checkout friction and build trust with their customers. Traditionally, large ecommerce platforms have marginalized small and medium sized merchants selling online by owning the user experience and trust. Simpl is leveling the playfield for all by democratizing the checkout and payments experience in ecommerce transactions.
Treecard is building financial products that encourage green living and will help drive the world towards a sustainable economy.
Many things that we do on a daily basis are not sustainable. Treecard’s mission is to make the consumer journey to green living simple, convenient, and rewarding by building a financial ecosystem that enables individuals to create a positive impact on the environment every single day.
Mondu is building a B2B payments solution that enables merchants and SMBs to focus on growing their business and increasing revenue.
Mondu is a B2B payment fintech company that aims to simplify the financial operations of SMBs. Mondu's B2B BNPL solution helps merchants and marketplaces improve their conversion rates and protect themselves against default risk, while providing payment flexibility to improve cash flow and day-to-day business management.
Link is on a mission to help businesses significantly reduce payment costs using open banking infrastructure.
Link provides businesses with an open-banking powered low-cost online payments solution. Link's seamless checkout experience enables consumers to pay with their bank accounts, driving significant cost savings to merchants.
Regate is an accounting automation platform that streamlines accounting and financial processes for SMEs.
Regate is an accounting automation platform that enables SMEs to streamline their accounting and financial processes. Designed as an intuitive all-in-one solution, Regate helps automate recurring tasks, centralize financial data and report actionable insights in real-time.
Baraka is on a mission to drive financial inclusion across the Middle East through its commission-free investment platform.
Democratizing the investment space isn’t just about giving people access to financial markets – it’s about helping them understand how, when and why to invest. Baraka is empowering a new generation of investors across the Middle East by providing users with a highly intuitive, content-first platform to help them build their personal wealth.
We seek out exceptionally talented teams with large ambitions.
We believe that founders are best positioned to lead their start-ups, and that they should retain substantial equity and control.
When we invest in a company, we expect to follow-on significantly as the business scales.
James Fitzgerald
Founding Partner
James is a founding Partner at Valar Ventures. Prior to Valar, he was COO and General Counsel of Peter Thiel’s global parent company, Thiel Capital, where he helped manage Peter’s network of investments and businesses.
Prior to joining Thiel Capital, James practiced law for seven years in the New York office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. He received his J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles and his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University.
Andrew McCormack
Founding Partner
Andrew is a founding Partner at Valar Ventures. Andrew’s career in technology has included business and corporate development roles at eCount (acquired by Citicorp) and Yahoo!. He joined PayPal in 2001, where he worked closely with Peter. After PayPal’s sale to eBay, Andrew helped launch Clarium Capital and later founded a restaurant group in San Francisco.
In 2008, Andrew rejoined Peter at Thiel Capital, where he led various international initiatives for Thiel Capital and Peter personally. Andrew received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.
Reuben Kobulnik
Operating Partner
Reuben is responsible for all operational and financial reporting matters at Valar.
Prior to joining Valar, Reuben was Counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where he practiced M&A, private equity, and general corporate law for nine years. Before joining Skadden, Reuben clerked for Justice Morris J. Fish of the Supreme Court of Canada.
Reuben received his law degree as well as an undergraduate degree in Finance and Strategy from McGill University.
We are built to move quickly and decisively. Every team gets the entire partnership behind them from day one.