James Fitzgerald is a founding partner at Valar Ventures who helped spin the firm out of Peter Thiel's family office, bringing an unusual combination of operating, legal, and investment experience from his previous role as COO and General Counsel at Thiel's hedge fund. He has built a reputation as a global fintech specialist who focuses on backing category-defining financial services companies in overlooked geographies like Europe, Latin America, Africa, and South Asia, often targeting boring but massive problems in financial infrastructure rather than consumer trends.
About their Fund
Sectors
Fintech, SaaS, Insurtech, Web3 / Crypto, Consumer
Rounds
Seed - Series B+
Avg Check Size
$100K - $5M
Notable Investments
Valar Ventures, backed and co-founded by Peter Thiel with founding partners from his family office and hedge fund background, specializes in backing fintech and software startups outside Silicon Valley—particularly in Europe, UK, Africa, Latin America, and New Zealand—that can become global category leaders from non-Bay Area hubs. The firm runs a concentrated, high-conviction portfolio and is known as the "go-to" investor for non-U.S. fintechs aspiring to global reach, having created some of the earliest and largest international fintech category leaders like Xero, Wise, N26, and Qonto.
Other partners at the fund
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Investments
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