QED Investors names Tommy Blanchard as the new COO

By Edlyn Cardoza

QED Investors, a leading global venture capital firm focused on investing in disruptive financial services companies, recently named Tommy Blanchard as its Chief Operating Officer.

Blanchard joins QED from Capital One, where he spent 20 years, most recently as managing vice president, business analysis in Capital One’s Commercial Bank.

“Tommy is a consummate professional with remarkable people skills,” said QED Investors Managing Partner and Co-Founder Nigel Morris. “He has a phenomenal mind when it comes to articulating process and mission. His experience will be invaluable in helping us scale QED. Tommy is a trusted and authentic general manager with a world-class reputation for leading cross-functional teams.”

In his most recent role, Blanchard’s responsibilities included data analysis and strategy, process innovation and transformation in cross-team collaboration – all towards driving step-function improvements in the sales of treasury management products and services in Capital One’s Commercial Bank.

Blanchard’s previous work at Capital One includes executive leadership positions in talent acquisition, people analytics, co-brand partnerships, loyalty strategies, operations analysis and supply chain management.

“I’m incredibly excited to join QED as they look to scale, building on their best-in-class reputation and enhances their position as one of the premier fintech VCs,” said Blanchard.

“QED has created an amazing track record of investing in the most talented entrepreneurs and their disruptive financial technology businesses across the U.S. and internationally. I’m thrilled to partner with Nigel and work alongside QED’s wonderful team members to continue their impressive record of success. By scaling platform operations and improving how we think about process, we will continue to position QED at the vanguard of fintech VC.”

Blanchard holds an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and MS and BS degrees in electrical engineering from Purdue University. He lives in Richmond, Va., and will be based in QED’s Alexandria, Va., office.

Founded in 2007, QED Investors has invested in more than 150 companies, including 21 unicorns, and has over $3 billion under management. Last month, QED announced it had closed a substantially oversubscribed $1.05 billion fund, including $550 million in QED Fund VII for early-stage investments and $500 million in a new Growth Fund.