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Tag: QED

Finance | Insurance 2023: NIGEL MORRIS

Morris plans to be “extremely disciplined” in coming months after a tough year for venture capital, he told TechCrunch in May. But his fintech investment company “remains intensely focused on building lasting, durable businesses.”

Morris co-founded Capital One Financial in the early 1990s with Richard Fairbank, who remains the credit card giant’s chairman and CEO. Morris served as Capital One’s president and chief operating officer until 2004, when he left to return to his native England to “generally be a dilettante,” as he told students at his alma mater, the London Business School, in 2022. He ultimately found the experience unsatisfying and returned to the U.S. in 2007.

He and Frank Rotman then co-founded QED Investors, which has now invested in 200 companies, including Credit Karma, Klarna and SoFi Technologies.

For three years, Morris has been named to Forbes’ annual Midas List, recognizing the top venture capitalists in the world. This year, QED was one of only 16 firms that had multiple people on the list; Rotman was recognized for the sixth straight year.

Morris sits on the board of Ideas42, a nonprofit organization that uses behavioral science technology to address complex social problems.

Finance | Insurance 2023: FRANK ROTMAN

Rotman started fintech venture capital firm QED Investors with Capital One co-founder Nigel Morris in 2007. With $4.3 billion under management, QED has invested in more than 200 companies, including Credit Karma, Klarna and SoFi Technologies.

As a student at the University of Virginia, Rotman worked as a research assistant at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he performed intelligent computer optimization work for unmanned spacecraft and the Mars Exploration Program. Upon graduating from U.Va., Rotman worked at Signet Bank and was an early leader at Capital One, helping create its original credit card portfolio.

He left to help establish a student lending company, EduCap, and then teamed up with Morris to create QED. Rotman is widely acknowledged in the investing industry as an expert in credit risk and portfolio management.

For the past six years, Rotman has been named to Forbes’ annual Midas List recognizing the world’s top venture capitalists. This year, QED was one of 16 firms with more than one person on the list, as Morris was also recognized.

Alexandria’s QED Investors raises $925M for two new funds

Alexandria-based fintech venture capital firm QED Investors raised $925 million for two new funds, QED announced Tuesday.

The funding comes from two capital commitments: a $650 million oversubscribed early stage fund and a $275 million early growth stage fund, according to a news release from QED, a key investor in San Francisco-based personal finance company Credit Karma and Brazilian banking company Nubank. The funds will allow the firm to “continue to invest in disruptive fintech companies in the U.S., the U.K., Europe, Latin America, India, Southeast Asia and Africa,” according to the release.

“We are excited, fortunate and privileged to be a steward of our investors’ capital,” QED Investors Managing Partner and co-founder Nigel Morris said in a statement. “We don’t take that responsibility lightly, especially in this difficult market.

In September 2021, QED announced it had closed on a seventh oversubscribed fund with capital commitments of $1.05 billion. In 2020, the firm secured $350 million in funding.

Morris and Frank Rotman, both involved in starting Capital One Financial Corp., founded QED Investors in 2007. QED has  invested in more than 200 fintech companies, including 28 unicorn companies. With the two new funds, QED will have more than $4 billion under management, according to the firm.