Spain-based bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) has formed a $100m corporate venturing fund focused on financial services start-ups.
BBVA Ventures has also disclosed its first deals by commiting to two venture capital funds and as part of a $4.05m series B round for SaveUp, a US-based savings reward programme, announced in a regulatory filing in July. SaveUp had previously raised $2m.
BBVA, as well as financial services peer Silicon Valley Bank, committed to Ribbit Capital’s $100m debut fund and also to backing seed fund 500 Startups to encourage its start-ups to enter its open innovation competition.
Serial entrepreneur Meyer Malka, who founded or invested in Banco Bracce, Peixe Urbano and Wonga, leads Ribbit, which said it had “bets” on financial services start-ups Borro, Capital Access Network, ContaAzul and Fuze Network.
Dave McClure, who previously worked with companies such as PayPal, Facebook, LinkedIn, Mint and Microsoft, founded 500 Startups, which has invested in more than 400 companies, including Simple, InDinero, PeerTransfer and WePay in financial services.
Jay Reinemann, a member of the Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist 100, will lead BBVA Ventures as executive director based in Silicon Valley, California, US, and has a dotted line into BBVA’s chief innovation officer Beatriz Lara Bartolomé.
He said: “Investing in start-up companies committed to new business models enables BBVA to learn and anticipate the emerging challenges facing the financial services sector.
“What’s more, entrepreneurs and co-investors can leverage BBVA’s extensive experience, brand and global distribution network in the financial sector to accelerate their growth. This is an exchange of knowledge that significantly enhances the capabilities of the bank and the potential financial returns for our co-investors, while at the same time providing the entrepreneurs who lead the innovation processes access to BBVA’s valuable strategic resources.”
Carlos Torres, head of strategy and corporate development for BBVA, added: “The model of BBVA Ventures provides the most efficient and effective access to emerging trends and disruptive innovation, which ultimately maximizes shareholder value.”
BBVA Ventures will invest in mobility, customer loyalty, e-commerce, payments and data analytics.