BFS Capital, a leading originator of small business financing in the U.S., U.K. and Canada, announced today the appointment of Mark Ruddock as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. He will also join the company’s Board of Directors.
“Mark has an outstanding track record of transforming financial services and technology companies by accelerating their innovation and business growth. His diversity of experience, from founder to growth stage executive, across a wide variety of industries and geographies makes him an exceptional choice for BFS Capital at such a pivotal stage in our evolution,” said Marc Glazer, co-founder of BFS Capital. Mr. Glazer will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
A veteran entrepreneur and internationally experienced executive, Ruddock brings two decades of leadership to the role. An accomplished thought leader, his expertise spans many industries, including enterprise software, mobile applications and online financial services. He joins BFS Capital after completing a mandate as interim CEO of 4finance, Europe’s largest online and mobile consumer lender.
“BFS Capital is at an exciting point in its evolution. I look forward to working with Marc, the board and the management team to help realize the company’s potential as we reimagine how BFS Capital will serve the unique financial needs of small businesses in a rapidly evolving digital economy.” said Ruddock.
Prior to 4finance, Ruddock played important leadership roles across a variety of industries. He was founder and CEO of INEA Corporation, an enterprise software firm focused on the financial services industry which was acquired in 2005. Following INEA, he became CEO of mobile software company Viigo, which he transformed into a multiple-award winning company, whose flagship app became one of BlackBerry’s most downloaded apps of all time by the time the company was acquired by RIM (Blackberry) in 2010. Following Viigo, Mr. Ruddock became the Managing Director, International at Wonga Group, and was responsible for overseeing all businesses outside of the UK, including the consumer lending businesses in Canada, Spain, Poland and South Africa and the eCommerce and product financing business BillPay in Germany. During his tenure, Wonga International developed exciting new products, and grew to over 50 percent of the company’s lending volume. He then joined Finstar Financial Group as CEO of Finstar Labs, their FinTech incubator and corporate innovation arm, before agreeing to step in as interim CEO of 4finance.