Geoarbitrage in Practice

Meet Lauren Morton, partner at QED Investors. I have known Lauren for a number of years and have always been inspired by her career. She has that deep expertise that is able to get into the weeds while also having the big picture, global perspective. Lauren came to QED from Capital One and most recently led the marketing technology team responsible for building the data and infrastructure to power credit card acquisitions. Prior to that, Lauren spent two years as a Partner at Capital One Growth Ventures and has managed risk analytics, product development and marketing for both secured and unsecured card products during her career as an operator. Beyond Capital One, Lauren also worked for a consumer lending start-up in San Francisco, and a P2P lender in China, and a data analytics company acquired by EBay in 2013. To say that Lauren is a force to be reckoned with is an understatement.

I was delighted to sit down (virtually) with Lauren and discuss how she has taken her experience and applied it in new geographies and to learn more about what QED is doing in LATAM. Listen in below!

#TechTuesday Highlight #95: Lauren Morton, Partner at QED Investors

How/why did you get into your space?

I started my career in financial services at Capital One. But it was really while getting my MBA at Stanford that I internalized the power of technology to transform this industry. After business school, I returned to Capital One to help build out their corporate venture arm in San Francisco.  I found myself constantly torn between challenging the status quo and empathizing with the teams focused more on risk mitigation than innovation.  I was able to take part in helping Capital One make huge progress on this front – including acquiring and scaling a tech start-up called Paribus that ultimately became a foundation for the Capital One Shopping App. That experience made me want to find more impactful ways to change our industry, which is exactly what brought me to QED Investors.

What role do you play in the tech ecosystem and why is that role important?

Today I am a Partner on QED’s international investment team where I focus on early stage fintech investing across Latin America. Latin America as a whole is an incredibly dynamic eco-system, with many cultural and technology differences by country. The problems entrepreneurs face here are daunting -- poor data infrastructure, huge unmet consumer needs, major socio-economic wealth gaps -- which means the companies being built are truly changing the lives of their customers. Historically there hasn’t been strong international investment in Latin America compared to more developed markets, and I believe it’s important (and profitable!) for strong early stage investors to support these entrepreneurs.

How has technology impacted your industry and why is this important? 

The explosion of mobile access and digital payments in the last five years has fueled the growth of some of the biggest fintechs in the world, including Nubank in Brazil. As more verticals move from offline to online, the information and tools available to serve the financial needs has also grown exponentially. We see this in prop-tech in companies like QuintoAndar that is bringing house shopping online, in wealth tech where Warren is democratizing access to stocks and investing (only 4% of Brazillians own stock today!!), and even in cross-border trade finance and payments which drove our investment in NuvoCargo. Each of these companies have used technology to connect directly with their customers, which then gives them the trust and insights to compete with incumbent banks.

What do you believe is the most exciting tech trend for 2021 (as it relates to your industry)?

While Covid has had terrible impacts to the region on many levels, one result of the last 12 months is the acceleration of digital payments and e-commerce. Lockdowns have forced both businesses and consumers to adopt new technology and ways of making money, and this is fueling the growth of the next wave of supporting infrastructure companies -- from identity verification/ anti-fraud technology, to the rise of crypto, stable coins and cross border investing. 

We’ve also seen very positive trends in insurtech over the past 12 months. Companies are clearly spending more time thinking about how to care for their employees, and better DTC solutions are also on the rise. This is very encouraging as we think about building out safety nets for the rising middle class.

Who is a person that inspires you in the space and why? 

I’m constantly inspired by the leaders in our portfolio companies. They dedicate so much time to building out their vision, overcoming obstacles and getting hard things done everyday. Over the last six months I’ve been able to more closely work with many of these entrepreneurs at Creditas in Brazil, where I’ve been acting as ‘Head of Data, Analytics and Credit Modeling’ leveraging my experience in credit early in my career at Capital One.

Maria Teresa Fornea (‘Tete’), is one of the incredible leaders at Creditas. Tete founded a home equity start-up called BCredi in Brazil in 2017, which was acquired by Creditas earlier this year. Seeing her join the team with excitement and tenacity to build bridges and problem solve through the change has been inspiring. Working with Tete and the Creditas team also reminds me how hard it is to be an operator! Sergio Furio (Creditas’ founder and CEO) is truly a visionary in the Brazil fintech landscape and has built an amazing team.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get into your space? 

Spend time in the trenches. You’ll be a better investor and you’ll be better equipped to help your portfolio companies see around corners and pivot when needed.  

Anything else we should know about you or you want to include?

When I’m not immersing myself in the fintech eco-system, my husband and I manage a small farm and vineyard on the Potomac River in Virginia. Balancing my tech-focused, zoom-centric, fintech career with immersing myself in the physical world has become incredibly important for my mental health and ability to focus. This past year reminded me how much we all need moments to recharge. 

#fintech #startups #tech #alts #investment #digitalpayments #LATAM #insurtech

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Have thoughts on this week’s trends or questions for me or Lauren? Post your thoughts in the comment section or share them on Twitter. Please include the hashtag #techtuesday and mention me @ScarlettSieber! Until next week. ??

You can connect with Lauren on LinkedIn and QED Investors on LinkedIn.

Follow Scarlett Sieber on LinkedIn for the latest news in #fintech.