# Marc Friend

> Marc Friend is the CEO of Sift, the leading digital trust and fraud prevention platform serving 700+ global enterprises. A Silicon Valley veteran with 30+ years spanning venture capital (US Venture Partners, Summit Partners, Partech) and operational CFO/CEO roles at high-growth tech companies including PubNub, Sun Basket, and Rapid (sold to Nokia in 2024), Friend brings an unusually broad toolkit to the fraud-detection space. He also competes in Ironman triathlons and funded an annual full-tuition merit scholarship at MIT, his alma mater.

- **Role:** CEO at Sift
- **Organizations:** Sift, Simon AI, Techne Infiniti Ventures
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Master of Science, Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Master of Business Administration (MBA), Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Led Rapid through successful acquisition by Nokia in November 2024, Grew Sift to #1 ranked fraud detection platform on G2 Grid (Winter 2026), Sift processes more than 1 trillion events annually across 34,000+ sites and applications under his leadership

## Career timeline

- **1986** — Graduated MIT (BS & MS, Electrical Engineering)
- **1988** — Associate, Charles River Ventures - early-stage VC diligence
- **1990** — Moved to operational and growth-stage investment roles
- **1994** — Earned MBA from Harvard Business School
- **1994** — General Partner, US Venture Partners (USVP) - focused on enterprise software and internet
- **2001** — General Partner, Summit Partners (through May 2005) - $20B growth-stage investment firm
- **2005** — Venture Partner, Partech International
- **2009** — COO & CFO, Intalio (enterprise software) through January 2016
- **2016** — CFO, PubNub - built finance infrastructure and first cross-functional compliance team
- **2019** — CFO, Sun Basket - achieved profitability in 18 months
- **2022** — Joined Sift as CEO (December 2022)
- **2023** — Named CEO of Rapid (April 2023), leading founder-to-operator transition
- **2024** — Rapid acquired by Nokia (November 2024)
- **2024** — Chairman at Simon AI; Venture Partner at Techne Infiniti Ventures

## Achievements

- Led Rapid through successful acquisition by Nokia in November 2024
- Grew Sift to #1 ranked fraud detection platform on G2 Grid (Winter 2026)
- Sift processes more than 1 trillion events annually across 34,000+ sites and applications under his leadership
- Achieved profitability at Sun Basket in 18 months as CFO
- Built PubNub's first cross-functional compliance team as CFO
- Created and funded the MIT Judy & Phil Friend '58 Scholarship - one annual full-tuition merit scholarship
- Served as MIT Class of 1986 Leadership Giving Campaign Chair for a decade (2006-2016)
- 30+ year career spanning venture capital (CRV, USVP, Summit Partners, Partech) and operating roles
- Serves as Chairman at Simon AI and Venture Partner at Techne Infiniti Ventures

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Sift named #1 in Fraud Detection on G2 Grid for Winter 2026
- **2024-11** — Rapid, where Friend served as CEO, acquired by Nokia
- **2022-12** — Marc Friend joined Sift as CEO alongside new appointments for Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Product Officer

## Links

- Website: https://sift.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcfriend
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/marc_friend

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/marc-friend
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-12