Our complete focus has been to invest in companies where technology creates a distinct competitive advantage in financial services. We wanted the best group of advisors any fintech entrepreneur can have; people with fluency in technology as well as banking, payments, investing, or insurance.

Over the past five years we have assembled a remarkable group of more than fifty Limited Partner Advisors — or LPAs — who work with us and our portfolio companies to provide expert knowledge and help make innovators more successful. We think this has led us to a unique position: Nyca is early in identifying the most important trends and companies because we are trusted and respected by both the innovators and the incumbents.

There are many examples of this, but a recent article in Business Insider is worth noting: they reviewed the “Top 12 Up-and-coming Fintechs in 2019.” Of the twelve, Nyca invested in five, and we’d previously met nearly all the other companies on the list. Sure, we wished we had invested in all twelve, but what we’re most proud of is the fact that many of the best entrepreneurs want to talk to Nyca. A few other press acknowledgements of Nyca’s position are worth noting: Nyca was ranked the third most active fintech VC by CB Insights in 2018, and Hans Morris has been regularly ranked in the top ten in the annual survey of the “Fintech Finance 40” list by Institutional Investor.

The success of our model has also been clearly illustrated by the support from investors. In July of 2014, we closed our first fund of $30M. This initial fund proved that our model created value for both entrepreneurs and investors. In May 2016, we raised Fund II, totaling $140M, which included eleven strategic institutional partners. We are pleased to announce that last week Nyca closed its third fund, totaling $210M, which takes the Nyca network to 21 institutional investors and 55 Limited Partner Advisors (more information here)

Any venture firm is a product of its people and its culture, and both are essential attributes of Nyca. We are very proud to announce David Sica’s promotion to partner, joining partners Hans Morris and Ravi Mohan. David has been with Nyca from the very beginning and if you ask any of our portfolio companies, they will tell you what a smart, trusted, and wise partner he has been in helping them grow their business. He’s the same at Nyca, playing an essential role in building virtually every aspect of our firm. We are also pleased to announce that we have promoted the remarkable Sol Lee and Sumeet Singh to senior associate. And in the past six weeks, we are lucky to have three outstanding new colleagues join our team. Stephanie Khoo has joined as a principal from Goldman Sachs, and Samriti (Sami) Pal and Nikil Konduru have come aboard as analysts.

Much has changed since we launched Nyca. In 2014 the fintech landscape was still a relatively small community of investors and several hundred companies, dominated by credit and payments strategies, and incipient crypto enthusiasts. Most regulators around the world were generally uninformed about the dramatic changes taking place in financial technology and with it the potential impact on banking, investing and insurance practices. In mid-2019, we estimate there are fifteen thousand funded fintech start-ups. Some have become very large companies extremely quickly, and entrepreneurs are creating new models and ideas with breathtaking speed.

While there are many expert venture firms focusing on fintech, we still believe our model is as valid as ever. What’s the same is the complex financial ecosystem, in which entrepreneurs need sound and expert advice to help them focus on executing their ideas in the most productive way. We love meeting with these innovators in all stages of early growth around the world, and we are eager to unearth the next disruptor in all of the many corners of financial services. Connecting our knowledgeable LPAs with fintech entrepreneurs creates a symbiotic relationship that will enable a more efficient and empowering financial system for all of us. We can’t wait.