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Peer Fund / Dealmaker·Payments

Micky Malka

Founder & Managing Partner at Ribbit Capital

Palo Alto, California, United States

MM
LinkedIn
Why they matter

Founding backer and board member across Coinbase, Nubank, Robinhood and Brex — unmatched pattern-recognition on payments and merchant-acquiring economics from seed through exit.

Background

Meyer "Micky" Malka is a Venezuelan-American entrepreneur who founded Ribbit Capital in 2012 after growing up amid Venezuelan hyperinflation and building/selling earlier fintech ventures (Heptagon/Patagon, sold to Banco Santander in 2000; Bling Nation/Lemon, sold in 2011). Ribbit has grown into a ~$12B AUM fintech-focused VC with early stakes in Coinbase, Nubank, Robinhood, Brex, Affirm and Revolut, and Malka sits on several of their boards.

Notable deals

  • 2017
    Ribbit Capital led Brex's $7M Series A in 2017; position grew ~700x by the time Capital One acquired Brex for $5.15B
  • 2013
    Ribbit Capital joined Coinbase's $5M Series A alongside Union Square Ventures
  • 2021
    Ribbit Capital participated in Nubank's $400M Series G round ahead of its 2021 IPO
  • 2022
    Joined Robinhood Markets' Board of Directors as an early investor and longtime advisor to co-founders

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Venezuelan-American founder of Ribbit Capital (2012), now ~$12B AUM fintech VC; prior exits include Patagon (sold to Santander, 2000) and Bling Nation/Lemon (2011).
  • Personal history with hyperinflation in Venezuela shaped his thesis on financial infrastructure and inclusion.

Current Focus

  • Just closed the Brex exit: Capital One completed its $5.15B acquisition in April 2026, a ~700x return on Ribbit's 2017 Series A lead.
  • Active board seats: Robinhood (since 2022), MercadoLibre, Upgrade, BharatPe, Figure, CRED.
  • Ribbit raised a new $500M fund in March 2025, signaling continued fintech/payments conviction; also expanding into AI (Listen Labs) and energy (Fuse Energy).

What He Cares About

  • Payments rails, embedded finance, merchant-acquiring economics, and regulatory/compliance infrastructure around fintech.
  • Long-cycle conviction investing — holds board seats for a decade or more rather than rotating capital quickly.

Recent Moves / Sensitivities

  • Sold $210M of Robinhood stock across 2024–2025, then made a rare open-market buy-back (~$20M) in late May 2026 — worth understanding his current read on HOOD and payments-adjacent public comps.
  • A Ribbit-linked entity reportedly layered options hedges around the same period — approach position-related questions carefully, as trading activity may be sensitive.
  • Heavy board load across competing/adjacent fintechs means some topics may trigger conflict-of-interest caution.

Questions to Ask

  1. Post Capital One–Discover–Brex, where does he see the next wave of payments/merchant-acquiring consolidation heading?
  2. With Ribbit's new $500M fund, what stage and geography is he prioritizing for merchant-acquiring or payments-infrastructure bets today?
  3. From his Robinhood board seat, how is he thinking about payments/fintech platforms competing against newly-scaled bank-owned players like Capital One-Brex?

Outreach draft

Subject
Your view on post-Brex payments consolidation
Hi Micky, Congratulations on the Brex outcome — a remarkable return on a 2017 bet. We're a deal team evaluating opportunities in payments and merchant acquiring, and given Ribbit's run through Coinbase, Nubank, Robinhood and Brex, your perspective on where consolidation goes next (especially post Capital One-Discover-Brex) would be extremely valuable. Would you have 20 minutes in the next couple of weeks for a call? Happy to work around your schedule and keep it focused — we're primarily interested in your read on where merchant-acquiring economics and bank/processor consolidation are headed. Best, [Placeholder Name]

Sources