Lending Club chairman launches new $125m VC fund targeting alternative credit and fintech

Nyca Partners is now looking to deploy its latest fintech focused war chest into private startups looking to disrupt financial incumbents.

Lending Club chairman Hans Morris has successful closed a new venture capital fund with more than $125m in total commitments with his firm Nyca Partners.

Nyca Partners is a venture capital firm exclusively focused on applying innovation in financial services into the global financial system. The investment team is comprised of Hans Morris, Jeff Reitman, and David Sica; with Ravi Mohan as the COO. The firm was launched in 2014 by Morris, a long-time Citigroup banker and former President at Visa.

Morris joined Lending Club's board of directors in February 2013 and is the current chairman of the board. He co-founded Nyca in 2014 with the firm closing $30m for its first fund in July 2014.

Over the course of the next 30 months, Morris along with Ravi Mohan, David Sica, and Jeff Reitman, and five Investment Partners: Osama Bedier, Brian Finn, Max Levchin, Tom Miglis, and Charlie Songhurst, invested in more than 30 companies across four distinct fintech subsectors: merchant payment solutions, alternative credit, digital advice, and financial infrastructure. 

"When we started Nyca nearly three years ago, the goal was to create a unique firm that was comprised of experienced financial services and technology professionals that could help companies succeed in the global financial system," said Morris.

"By providing financial technology knowledge to early stage companies, we are able to offer a unique and much-needed service. This is an exciting time for fintech and this latest fund will allow us to continue to invest in companies that leverage technology to build platforms that empower consumers." 

The new fund has already made more than a dozen investments to date, including Axioma, EmBroker, Ladder, LeapYear, and Personetics. The fund has 10 institutional investors and 29 Limited Partner Advisors with senior industry experience.