Ron Suber, well-known in the Fintech sector for his leadership at Prosper and his many Fintech investments, has recently taken a board seat at Fintech startup Qwil.
According to a report in the SF Business Journal, after being an investor, both debt and equity, and advisor for Qwil, he decided to step up his involvement. This is a good sign for Qwil as Suber has a pretty good track record when it comes to Fintech investing.
Suber was previously the long-time President of Prosper Marketplace, a leading online consumer lending platform in the US. In mid-2017, Suber left his executive role at Prosper and become the “President Emeritus” and an advisor to the company. While no longer an advisor at the Fintech, Suber has kept busy with his many different Fintech investments.
Perhaps the best example is Suber’s involvement with a promising Fintech is with his investment in Credible, a successful platform that connected lenders with borrowers.
Suber was the Chairman of the Board of Credible when Credible completed an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in Australia on the ASX raising $50 million in the public offer.
This past summer, Credible was acquired by Fox (Nasdaq: FOXA, FOX). The deal included Fox purchasing shares for USD $265 million and while committing USD $75 million in growth capital.
Regarding Qwil, Suber says he was attracted to the company due to its rapid growth in providing a “liquidity” product for small firms and freelancers. Qwil is providing some bank-like services minus the onus of being a bank.
Qwil is a public benefit corporation that has raised around $160 million from many well-known investors.
Qwil has created a service that removes much of the friction in the payments process. The plug and play API enables users to send payments in over 140 different countries or to set up a credit facility. The company’s ethos was explained in a blog post from last year.
To quote Qwil:
“We at Qwil hate payment inefficiencies, cash crunches, and financial servitude. We started out, and continue to focus, on empowering the Freelancer Economy.”
As for Suber’s involvement, this means he is dedicating both his money and personal capital, IE time.
Not all promising Fintechs succeed but Subers’ involvement is a good measurement for Qwil’s future. Qwil is definitely a Fintech to watch.