Melissa Widner is the CEO of Lighter Capital, the pioneer and leading provider of revenue based financing to SAAS companies. She has a deep understanding of the entrepreneur's journey and the importance of growth capital.

Previously, she was the Managing Director of NAB Ventures, the venture capital arm of National Australia Bank, where she invested in and served as a director for several global fintech companies. This was preceded by her role as a general partner at SeaPoint ventures, a US based venture capital firm focused on mobile technologies and SaaS enterprise software solutions. She is an active angel investor who served on the board of US based Alliance of Angels, one of the longest running and most active angel groups in the world. She was a lecturer in the subjects of Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship at University of Washington’s MBA program.

Melissa is a classic example of founder turned funder, having led two companies to successful acquisitions that provided over a 10X return to investors, including enterprise software company, 7Software (acquired by Nasdaq listed Concur Technologies.

Melissa has helped transform the Australian startup sector since her relocation here with her Australian husband in 2009. Passionate about female entrepreneurship, Melissa co-founded and now chairs of Heads Over Heels, an organization that works with women entrepreneurs leading high growth companies. And at Scale investors, we are thrilled that she has recently joined our investment committee.

Links/Resources/Companies

Wave to be acquired by H&R Block for $537 million

Clarisonic

Car Next Door acquired by Uber

Iivy

Books

Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big

Podcast

What Fuels You

Interested in learning more about Scale? Head to our website to find learn more!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.