# Cynthia Chen

> Cynthia Chen is the San Francisco-based co-founder and CEO of Kikoff. Raised in Beijing and educated at Columbia, she built a career in credit and risk at Capital One, Deloitte, OnDeck, LendingHome and Figure before founding Kikoff with Christophe Chong in 2019. Her experience entering the U.S. credit system informs her work on accessible credit-building products and financial infrastructure.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Kikoff
- **Organizations:** Kikoff, Figure, LendingHome (now Kiavi), OnDeck, Capital One, Deloitte
- **From:** Beijing, China
- **Education:** Bachelor of Arts, Economics and Operations Research, Columbia University, Master, Mathematics of Finance, Columbia University
- **Known for:** Held founding or executive roles at Figure, LendingHome and OnDeck before Kikoff., Led Kikoff as it reported more than $300 million in 2025 revenue while remaining profitable., Built Kikoff from a consumer credit-building service into a business also supplying enterprise credit infrastructure.

## Career timeline

- **2000** — Moved from Beijing to New York at seventeen to attend Columbia on a full scholarship.
- **2004** — Graduated from Columbia and began working at Capital One.
- **2006-2012** — Worked in financial services consulting at Deloitte; later returned to Capital One.
- **2013-2016** — Led risk management at OnDeck, including during its December 2014 IPO.
- **2016-2017** — Relocated to San Francisco as chief risk officer at LendingHome, now Kiavi.
- **2018-2019** — Founding chief risk officer and subsequently chief revenue officer at Figure.
- **2019** — Co-founded Kikoff with Christophe Chong in November.
- **2021** — Kikoff announced a $30 million Series B and $42.5 million in total funding.
- **2026** — Expanded Kikoff Enterprise through acquisition of technology and customer assets from The Service Bureau.

## Achievements

- Held founding or executive roles at Figure, LendingHome and OnDeck before Kikoff.
- Led Kikoff as it reported more than $300 million in 2025 revenue while remaining profitable.
- Built Kikoff from a consumer credit-building service into a business also supplying enterprise credit infrastructure.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Kikoff acquired The Service Bureau technology, customer relationships and other assets, expanding its enterprise platform.
- **2026-05** — Reporting on a Delaware books-and-records dispute described allegations by co-founder Christophe Chong about governance and secondary share sales; Kikoff denied the core allegations.
- **2026-04** — Kikoff appointed John Kaelle CFO and Robert Mahnke chief legal officer, and reported 2025 revenue exceeding $300 million with continued profitability.
- **2026-04** — Listed as a speaker at HumanX in San Francisco.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cc2004

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/cynthia-chen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26