51 - 150 in alphabetical order of CVC unit: Matt Sueoka, global head, American Express Ventures
Matt Sueoka took control of US-based payment processing firm American Express’s corporate venture capital (CVC) arm, American Express Ventures, at the end of 2021 following the retirement of Harshul Sanghi.
Sanghi had led the unit, which is also known as Amex Ventures, since it was founded in 2011. Amex Ventures plays a central role in driving innovation for American Express and over the past decade it has backed more than 70 startups developing technologies and products surrounding commerce, payments, fraud prevention, data analytics and security. Its portfolio is currently valued at more than $1bn.
Among its recent deals are a role in the $11m seed round for Glean AI, an analyst of consumer purchasing data, as well as a lead role in the $7m seed round for financial planning software developer Finmark.
Sueoka’s previous role was head of global strategy, partnerships & enablement for the Amex Digital Labs innovation team at American Express. In this role, he worked with thought leaders, customers, and partners across the globe to catalyse digital innovation at Amex by originating, incubating, and managing emerging products and platforms.
Discussing his leadership of Amex Ventures, Sueoka said: “From a historical standpoint, we’ve built an incredible portfolio including some of the best companies across fintech, consumer, B2B, and enterprise capabilities. As we look to the future, we’ll continue our focus in those spaces, as well as look into the many new opportunities within the Web3 space.”
Sueoka was previously a strategy consultant at Bain & Company, where he focused primarily on advising financial services and private equity clients, and a Business Designer at IDEO.
He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Dartmouth College as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School.
