Finance/Insurance: ROB FINNEGAN

In October 2021, Finnegan announced that West Creek Financial Inc., the fintech firm that partners with more than 15,000 stores and online businesses to offer point-of-sale financing for essential items ranging from furniture to mattresses to tires, had changed its name to Koalafi (pronounced “qualify”).

To go along with a new name, Koalafi moved earlier in 2022 from Henrico to Richmond’s Manchester neighborhood. The private company has grown significantly since its 2014 founding, raising about $200 million in private equity rounds and forging partnerships with more than 10,000 retailers.

A graduate of the University of Virginia, where he studied systems engineering, Finnegan joined West Creek, now Koalafi, in 2017. He has sat on the company’s board since 2015.

Finnegan began his career modeling air traffic for the Mitre Corp., a nonprofit organization that operates federally funded research and development centers. From there, he moved to Capital One Financial Corp., the company known for using tech to transform banking, starting at its founding in 1994. Finnegan stayed there for 17 years, leaving as senior vice president of new account marketing and decision sciences.