Safwan Zaheer
InvestorInvestor at Blockchain Founders Fund
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Writes $100K – $5M checks · typically $1.5M
Find your path to Safwan
815 people in our graph share verified history with Safwan — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Kerry WongunlockedSafwan: together at Barclays (2012–2015)
×9Safwan: together at Barclays
×2Safwan: together at Nokia
About
Safwan Zaheer is a financial services executive with over 20 years of experience building and scaling digital banking, payments, and fintech platforms. His career includes roles as Chief Product Officer at a PE-backed lender, EVP and GM at a VC-backed fintech where he scaled point-of-sale lending to $250M, and Head of Product at a BaaS platform where he built T-Mobile MONEY to 250,000+ customers. He currently serves as Head of Product (Advisory) for Tokenized Deposits at Vast Bank and advises on programmable financial infrastructure initiatives.
Experience
- Vast BankHead of Product (Advisory) | Tokenized Depositscurrent2025 — present
- autoMHatic FinancialChief Product Officer2024 — 2025
- hundredX | Fintech Operating PlatformFounder & Operating Executive2019 — 2023
- LendingPointEVP & GM, POS Lending2021 — 2022
- KPMG USHead of FinTech, Digital Financial Services2016 — 2019New York City Metropolitan Area
- AccentureDirector, Digital Payments, Financial Services2015 — 2016Greater Philadelphia
- BarclaysDirector, Digital Payments Product & Strategy2012 — 2015
- Peppers & Rogers Group (Acquired by TeleTech in 2011)Management Strategy Consultant2010 — 2011
- NokiaSenior Manager, Mobile Products and Solutions2007 — 2010
- NokiaManager, Mobile Products and Solutions2003 — 2007
- NokiaMobile Standards Engineer (Bell Labs)2001 — 2003
Skills & more
Strategy99Product ManagementManagement Consulting48Start-ups32Business Strategy72Executive Management7Leadership10Program Management19BNPL1Strategic Planning1Sales Management6Cross-functional Team Leadership33
+12 more
Business DevelopmentGo-to-market StrategyStrategic PartnershipsMarketing StrategyProduct StrategyEmerging MarketsMerchant ServicesCustomer ExperienceSoftware as a Service (SaaS)Business PlanningLendingSalesFrom Safwan's professional profile.
Colleagues at Blockchain Founders Fund
Aly Madhavji
Managing Partner at Blockchain Founders Fund
Arseny Klekovkin
Managing Partner, G1 Ventures at HyperNest
Diana Kam
CEO, Singapore Markets & APAC Region | Head of Exchange at Venturebeam at VentureWave Capital Ltd.
Francesco Galati
Associate at Blockchain Founders Fund
Hope Ditlhakanyane
Investment Principal at Founders Factory Africa
Mansoor Madhavji
Partner at Blockchain Founders Fund
Marc Vanlerberghe
Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer at Algorand Foundation
Ram Shanmugam
Investor at Blockchain Founders Fund
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Safwan Zaheer?
- Safwan Zaheer is a financial services executive with over 20 years of experience building and scaling digital banking, payments, and fintech platforms. His career includes roles as Chief Product Officer at a PE-backed lender, EVP and GM at a VC-backed fintech where he scaled point-of-sale lending to $250M, and Head of Product at a BaaS platform where he built T-Mobile MONEY to 250,000+ customers. He currently serves as Head of Product (Advisory) for Tokenized Deposits at Vast Bank and advises on programmable financial infrastructure initiatives.
- Where does Safwan Zaheer work?
- Safwan Zaheer is Investor at Blockchain Founders Fund.
- What check size does Safwan Zaheer write?
- Safwan Zaheer typically writes checks of $100K – $5M.
- Where did Safwan Zaheer go to school?
- Safwan Zaheer studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Master of Science - MS, Engineering/Industrial Management); Texas A&M University (Master of Science, Electrical Engineering); Texas A&M University (Bachelor of Science, Cum Laude).
Same school
Also attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology2,000
Fred WilsonCo-founder & Partner at Union Square VenturesElad GilSolo general partner investing through Gil CapitalAileen LeeFounder & Managing Partner of Cowboy VenturesHemant TanejaCEO & Managing Director of General CatalystPhilippe LaffontFounder & CIO of Coatue ManagementNat FriedmanCo-lead of Meta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDG
+ 1,994 more
Also attended Texas A&M University274
Kanu GulatiInvestor at Khosla VenturesNathaniel HardingManaging Partner at Cortado VenturesJackie PfisterChief Operating Officer at Mercury FundLisa RobertsChief Product Officer at Mercury FundBrent KeltonPartner & Texas Leader at Moneta VenturesClinton BybeeCo-founder & Managing Director, Emeritus at ARCH Venture Partners
+ 268 more
Shared employers
Also worked at KPMG US493
Jeffrey PaineFounding Partner at Golden Gate VenturesJonas VetterleInvestor at Moonfire VenturesMarco FumagalliBoard Member at P101 VenturesJimmy ChartersChief Financial Officer at GreycroftRob LawrenceSenior Finance Associate at GreycroftJay JohnsonBoard Member at CincyTech
+ 487 more
Also worked at Accenture1,138
Mark SusterManaging Partner at Upfront VenturesChris BrittCo-founder & CEO of ChimeViviana FagaGeneral Partner at Felicis VenturesJulie YangVice President at InvestcorpAmira OujiVice President of Platform & Portfolio Success, Rise of the Rest at RevolutionAntonio GrifoniAssociate at P101 Ventures
+ 1,132 more
Also worked at Barclays311
Bertie AykroydPartner at Mayfair Equity PartnersShemina MekkyExecutive Assistant, MENA at Golden Gate VenturesSunil RaoCOO, SVP Finance at Plum Alley InvestmentsJarrid TingleInvestor at Harlem Capital PartnersPhil VenablesVenture Partner at Ballistic VenturesAngela AsencioManager, Therapeutics Team at Deerfield Management Company
%20(1).png)
%20(1).jpg)
+ 305 more
Also worked at Nokia329
Nick FrosstCo-founder of CohereViswa SankaranarayananVenture Partner at Monta Vista CapitalAdamAdvisor at Clear VenturesSamir MatkiInvestor at DaphniTony NystenPartner at OpenOceanTimo AhopeltoSerial tech entrepreneur and early-stage investor running Lifeline Ventures
+ 323 more