FTV is very active in the fintech space, perhaps most notably as major investor in U.K.-based foreign exchange payments firm World First, which was later sold to Ant Financial. Other investments include e-commerce and payments start-up EBANX and and rewards program tech firm Tango Card.
FTV's managing partners - Brad Bernstein & Richard Garman - moved up a spot to #5 in Institutional Investor's 2018 Fintech Finance 40.
"The best excel through collaboration. “Capitalize on our connections,” beckons the website of FTV Capital (see No. 5–ranked Richard Garman and Brad Bernstein). FTV has been cultivating its Global Partner Network of technology innovators and industry incumbents for 20 years. In the 12 months through September, FTV arranged more than 350 of what it calls “business development introductions” for portfolio companies."
When Chris Winship, partner of FTV Capital, paid $35 million in private equity funds for a slice of the digital gift card player Tango Card in May 2018, he did so with the expectation that he would quickly find a buyer.
It’s the equivalent of buying the Boardwalk property in the Monopoly board game when another player already owns the pairing property, Park Place, just to make money off their need to buy you out so they can start building hotels.
While Tango Card serves employers in the rewards and incentives industry, it is a purely digital gift card player that has a direct connection to the consumer so it can thrive in an increasingly mobile world. This is exactly the technology that Winship predicted that a physical gift card distribution giant would need to adapt to a growing market for digital gifting.
Brad Bernstein could see the role of advisers was changing. What was once an industry of investment managers and salespeople was shifting to financial planning. Driving the change was technology — automating and commoditizing many of the ways advisers traditionally added value for clients. Mr. Bernstein, 51, managing partner at growth equity firm FTV Capital, believed there was a demand for products that helped advisers better articulate their value to clients.
Institutional Investor ranked our managing partners, Brad Bernstein and Richard Garman, #6 in the 2017 Fintech Finance 40 for their company leadership and our firm's successful, enduring track record in the financial technology industry. "Let others get caught up in the fads, hype cycles, and volatility of technology investing. FTV Capital has been employing pretty much the same formula for nearly 20 years with remarkably steady results — better than steady, considering that it seeks out portfolio companies with at least 20 percent historical and near-term revenue growth."
FTV led a $40 mln round for WePay in 2015; FTV sold remaining stake in CardConnect this year; BlackHawk acquired CashStar this year for $175 mln; With the sale of WePay, FTV Capital has scored its latest big exit. JP Morgan Chase said late Monday that it agreed to buy WePay, the online payment provider. Financial terms weren’t announced...
FTV Capital partner Liron Gitig was awarded Investor of the Year at One World Identity's 2017 K(NO)W Nodes Awards. The award was given to the investor or investment firm who has had the most critical impact on the identity landscape over the past year. Investor of the Year nominees must have made one or more capital investments in the identity industry within the past year and demonstrated critical impact on the identity industry through investment activity.
The 2017 PEI 300 ranking looks at the world's top fund managers according to a very simple metric: how much capital they have raised for private equity investment in the last five years. This year the PEI 300 saw more capital raised by the industry’s biggest firms than ever in its history, with market conditions driving investors toward brand names.
Banks and fintech firms are increasingly working together to create new and innovative solutions—developing a new products and services, or generating efficiencies for the traditional banking industry. How will these relationships continue to take shape in the near future? Jim Hale of FTV Capital discusses where the significant investments and advancements for innovation lie for the banking industry.
Chris Winship, partner, FTV Capital, and board member, VPay: Consolidation, market inefficiencies, changing regulations and the ever-expanding demand for eCommerce capabilities are four top factors that will continue to drive growth opportunities in the payments industry in 2017.
