Investor Profile: Green Visor Capital — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Green Visor Capital is a rare breed: a venture fund that invests in nothing but fintech, run by people who have actually run the world’s largest payments network. Launched in late 2013 by Joe Saunders, the former Chairman and CEO of Visa, alongside Simon Yoo, it backs entrepreneurs solving substantive problems in financial services with technology — in a socially responsible way. If you are mapping how to get funding from Green Visor Capital, know this: it leads early rounds and its partners’ payments Rolodex is the product.

Based in San Francisco, the firm closed its maiden fund at $50 million and set out a $200 million target for its second fund, with SEC filings showing it had secured over $51 million by 2017. The final close size of Fund II was not publicly confirmed, so treat total assets under management as not publicly disclosed — the documented anchors are the $50M debut and the $200M Fund II target.

Thesis: what Green Visor Capital looks for

Green Visor’s thesis is blunt: fintech is its exclusive investment focus, and its sweet spot is Seed and Series A, where it will often lead. It looks for passionate founders tackling big unsolved problems in financial services — payments, lending, inclusion — in the US and abroad, with a demonstrated appetite for emerging markets. The firm says what differentiates it is its network in and expertise across financial services, and a partner-only level of engagement with founders: you get the partners, not the associates.

Sectors and stage

Fintech, fintech and more fintech — payments infrastructure, digital lending, financial inclusion plays. Seed and Series A are the core, with follow-on participation in later rounds. The firm has backed companies across the US, India and Africa, sensing early that affordable processing systems were missing there. Specific cheque sizes are not publicly disclosed.

Notable portfolio and track record

Its portfolio includes some genuinely consequential emerging-market fintech names. Simpl, the Indian buy-now-pay-later platform, raised its Series A led by Green Visor Capital LP II, with Joe Saunders joining its board — a direct link for Indian founders. Flutterwave, the African payments giant, is another flagship bet, with Saunders joining its board too. Earlier portfolio companies include Wefunder, FiscalNote (whose $10 million Series C it led), Cloud Lending, CrowdStreet and Madrone. The firm’s team has been together for more than a decade, which shows up in patient, board-level support of portfolio companies.

People and programmes

The firm’s general partners include Chairman and General Partner Joe Saunders and co-founder Simon Yoo, whose earlier roles include Kabbage, Citigroup and Mellon Bank. There is no cohort-based accelerator; the “programme” is effectively the partners’ decade-long operating network in payments and banking, deployed one company at a time.

How to apply for funding from Green Visor Capital

Green Visor invites founders directly: “Contact us if you are interested in partnering,” says its site at greenvisorcapital.com. There is no public application form — pitch via the site’s contact channel with a clear articulation of the financial-services problem you solve and why it matters for inclusion, transparency or efficiency, in the US or emerging markets.