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The 8 most important Goldman Sachs alumni who left to lead fintech startups
Falling technology costs and layoffs during the financial crisis created a boom in financial startups after 2008, and increasingly investment bank workers are leaving top firms to join the world of financial technology, or fintech.
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Goldman Sachs is often seen as top of the tree when it comes to finance, but even their employees are jumping ship to join startups that are trying to kill traditional banking.
Scroll down to see top Goldman Sachs alumni who are now leading lights in the world of fintech, ranked by importance.
At Goldman: Investment banker
Left: December 2010
Now: Mentor, Barclays Accelerator
What it does: Barclays Accelerator is an intensive 13-week programme to help get fintech businesses off the ground, run in partnership between Barclays bank and technology incubator TechStars. Millar is a mentor in the programme, helping guide startups through the world of traditional finance. As well as fintech, Millar also has an interest in adtech.
At Goldman: Executive director
Left: March 2015
Now: Cofounder and Co-CEO, Velocity
What it does: Velocity is an app that links with restaurant till systems to let diners pay for their meals within the app, without having to request the bill. The London-headquartered startup signed up over 300 restaurants in the UK including Hix, Burger & Lobster, Sketch, and the Cukoo Club. Velocity recently raised $12 million (£7.81 million).
At Goldman: Executive director
Left: June 2013
Now: Head of product, Algomi
What it does: Algomi is a cross between Amazon and Salesforce for the bond market. For buyers and sellers, it shows them which banks have been dealing with bonds they're interested in, which gives them an idea of where to take their business. For banks, it shows them what other bonds the client might be interested in and loops in other team members with relevant expertise.
At Goldman: Analyst, vice-president
Left: November 2013
Now: Senior vice president, Opus Global
What it does: Opus Global is a $500 million (£323 million) fintech fund targeting software companies dealing with financial risk and compliance. It made its first acquisition last year — Hipperos, a third party software management platform that helps big companies minimize the risk of using outside software.
At Goldman: Analyst
Left: June 2011
Now: Cofounder, MarketInvoice
What it does: London-based MarketInvoice's peer-to-peer lending platform lets investors lend cash directly to small businesses, using unpaid invoices as collateral. £400 million ($612 million) has been lent since launch in 2011 and lending volumes are growing by an average of 30% each month.
At Goldman: Head of product
Left: 2013
Now: CEO, REDI Global Technologies
What it does: REDI's platform lets investors route equity, future, and options orders through 150 execution brokerages. The New York-based company was spun out of Goldman Sachs in 2012 and now has over 5,000 users.
At Goldman: Co-head of European interest rate products and partner
Left: January 2015
Now: COO Lendix, investor in foreign exchange platform Kantox
What it does: Lendix is a bit like a French Funding Circle, offering a marketplace for business loans. Investors can lend directly to small and medium businesses. Kantox's foreign exchange platform matches up businesses that transfer money into different currencies with other companies making similar trades in the reverse direction. Fees are reduced by letting them trade directly with each other and cutting out traditional middlemen.
At Goldman: Partner, co-COO Technology
Left: 2002
Now: CEO, Earthport
What it does: London-based Earthport is a cloud-based, cross-border payment processing platform aiming to compete with the current, legacy system SWIFT — the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. Bank of America, the World Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Banco do Brasil, and Western Union have all worked with the startup, which has $11 million (£7.13 million) in sales last year.
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