Lighter Capital, the leading fintech lender to tech startups, announced that it has appointed Melissa Widner as its CEO, effective today. In this position, Widner will focus on expanding the reach of Lighter Capital, both domestically and internationally.
Read More: MrGuru Announces the Addition of Tens New Tokens to Their Trading Offer
Widner brings years of experience from the technology and finance sectors to Lighter Capital, both as an investor and startup founder. Prior to joining Lighter Capital, she served as the Managing Partner at NAB Ventures, the Venture Capital arm of the National Australia Bank. Melissa was also a General Partner at Seattle-based venture capital firm, SeaPoint Ventures. As CEO, she has led two companies to successful acquisitions that provided over a 10X return to investors, including enterprise software company, 7Software, (acquired by Concur Technologies NASDAQ: CNQR, acquired by SAP). Melissa is also the chair and co-founder of Sydney based Heads Over Heels, an organization that supports women-led high growth companies.
“As both an entrepreneur and investor, I’m keenly aware of the need for alternatives to traditional financing sources,” stated Widner. “Lighter Capital was one of the first companies to recognize the funding gap for emerging companies and, specifically, make debt-based financing available to revenue-producing startups. Over the years, Lighter has provided growth capital to hundreds of entrepreneurs without requiring any equity in return. I’m excited to build on this foundation by making our offerings available to more entrepreneurs both in North America and Australia.”
“We couldn’t be more pleased to have Melissa take the reins of Lighter Capital,” stated Erik Benson, co-founder of Lighter Capital and managing director of Seattle-based venture capital firm, Voyager Capital. “Melissa’s years of direct experience as an entrepreneur, CEO and investor will prove invaluable in her new role. Just as importantly, the rest of the board and I have had a chance to work closely with her since 2018, when she originally joined Lighter Capital’s board of directors, then representing the interests of NAB Ventures. We are thrilled that we have an experienced fintech executive to take Lighter Capital to its next stage of global growth.”
Read More: XUP Payments is working with Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business to Advance Education
