Cota Capital Expands Its Fintech Practice With Two New Partners

Kevin Jacques and Ben Malka will Lead Fintech Arm of the Investment Firm and Champion Open Banking, as Transformation of Financial Services Accelerates in Post-Covid Era

SAN FRANCISCO--()--Cota Capital announced that former Visa Ventures leader Kevin Jacques and Ben Malka joined the firm. The new partners will spearhead Cota’s Fintech practice and double down on research by focusing on advancing open banking worldwide.

“Kevin and Ben are vital additions to our team as we expand our presence in the Fintech space,” said Bobby Yazdani, Co-Founder of Cota Capital. “Ben and Kevin, along with the entire team at Cota Capital, bring a wealth of specialized domain expertise and relationships.”

Jacques served as Vice President & Head of Visa Ventures, where he built Visa’s Fintech Fund, completing more than 30 direct strategic investments and launching Visa’s Fintech Fund engagement program. He brings over 20 years of investment experience, a decade of those years purely focused on Fintech.

“We believe that Fintech represents one of the largest and most profitable sectors in the economy with attractive business models and dynamic M&A markets,” said Jacques. “Cota’s unique multi-stage research platform, combined with our strong Fintech domain knowledge and established relationships, provide key insights powering our ability to identify promising Fintech investment opportunities.”

Malka joins Cota Capital from Fidelity Investments, where he served as a partner on many Fintech investments. He brings over 20 years of investment experience at leading firms, including Boston Consulting Group and CapitalOne. Malka served as the Chairman of the Financial Services Venture Capital Alliance from 2010 to 2015.

“A new digital Fintech infrastructure is essential for delivering personalized experiences, data-driven decision making, and a digitally-enabled workforce. The ‘shift to digital’ in banking, payments, investing and insurance is accelerating,” Malka said. “Cota is focused on investing in mission-critical enterprise technologies that will become essential and more deeply integrated into every facet of our business and financial lives.”

The Open Banking Paradigm

The Open Banking paradigm has created an environment for banks and Fintech companies to launch innovative new financial services for consumers and businesses. New financial services emerge daily and often from unexpected places: a third of the Fintech industry deals are outside the US, the UK, and China. Traditional banking has already witnessed fundamental changes in customer expectations and demands. In fact, 88% of incumbent financial institutions believe that part of their business will be lost to standalone Fintech companies in the next five years. According to Singularity University, 46% of people exclusively use digital channels for their financial needs and Statista found the total transaction value of digital payments grew from $4.1 trillion in 2019 to $5.2 trillion in 2020.

About Cota Capital

Cota Capital is a San Francisco-based investment firm focused on private and public modern enterprise technology companies. Cota invests financial and knowledge capital in bold leaders at companies delivering on the promise and potential of their modern technologies. With more than $1 billion in assets under management, the firm has invested in more than 80 private and 30 public technology companies since its launch in 2015. For more information, visit cotacapital.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

Contacts

Sutherlandgold for Cota Capital
Malia O’Connor
cotacapital@sutherlandgold.com

Contacts

Sutherlandgold for Cota Capital
Malia O’Connor
cotacapital@sutherlandgold.com