Number of Portfolio Companies 1
Number of Current Board & Advisor Roles 1
  • Investor Type  Individual/Angel
  • Investor Stage  Seed

James Gutierrez is a leading social entrepreneur and innovator in lending and financial technology. Prior to Insikt, James founded and was CEO of Oportun (formerly Progreso Financiero), the leading provider of responsible, unsecured loans to Hispanics in the US that recently surpassed $1.5 billion in loans and over half a million borrowers since

its founding. As CEO from 2005-2012, James led Oportun from its development as a nascent start-up to a market leader in the lending industry and raised over $250 million of debt and equity to fund its growth. Under James’ leadership, the company scaled its loan originations to over 200,000 per year with revenues of $65 million, 85 retail stores in California and Texas, and 600 employees.

James Gutierrez has served on Federal Reserve Board’s Consumer Advisory Council and the Centennial Advisory Committee, and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences on financial services innovation. James also co-authored and helped pass two federal and state laws to help increase the availability of safe and affordable small dollar loans. In 2010, BusinessWeek selected James as one of America’s most promising social entrepreneurs and in 2012, Goldman Sachs named James one of America’s top 100 most intriguing entrepreneurs.

In addition to Insikt, James also serves on the boards of Talent Inc., Listo!, SEO-SF, and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. James is a founding partner of Insikt Ventures, an early stage fund with investments in OnDeck Capital, Listo!, and Blend Labs. James was also an early investor in many leading technology companies including Trulia, OkCupid, StubHub, and Symphony Commerce. James graduated with a BA in Economics from Yale University and a MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Number of Investments 1
James Gutierrez invested in BabyBoom on Mar 25, 2011. This investment - Series A - BabyBoom - was valued at
$900K
.
Announced Date  
Organization Name  
Lead Investor  
Funding Round  
Money Raised  
Mar 25, 2011
BabyBoom
Series A - BabyBoom
$900K
Number of Current Jobs 3
Number of Past Jobs 8
James Gutierrez has 3 current jobs including Investor at Finix, Founding Partner at Insikt Ventures, and Investor at Symphony Commerce. Additionally, James Gutierrez has had 8 past jobs including CEO, Co-Founder at Aura Financial.
Organization Name  
Title At Company  
Start Date  
End Date  
Aura Financial
CEO, Co-FounderJun 2012Jan 2021
Oportun
Founder & Chief Executive OfficerJun 1, 2005Mar 23, 2012
Oportun
Founder, CEO and ChairmanMar 2005Mar 2012
Great Oaks Venture Capital
PartnerSep 2005Feb 2012
Morgan Stanley
Distressed Debt20042004
Bain & Company
Consultant20042004
Magic Bean Stalk
FounderJan 1999Jun 2001
Magic Bean Stalk
CEO/Co-FounderJan 1999Jun 2001
Number of Current Board & Advisor Roles 1
Number of Past Board & Advisor Roles 3
James Gutierrez is the Board Member at Talent Inc..
Organization Name  
Title At Company  
Start Date  
End Date  
Tricolor Auto
Directors of BoardNov 2012Nov 2014
Oportun
Chairman, Board MemberJun 2005Mar 2012
Aura Financial
Board Member
James Gutierrez studied at Yale University and Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Number of Events 2
James Gutierrez has participated in 2 events. They most recently attended, or will attend, LendIt USA 2017 on Mar 6, 2017.