# Matan Bar

> Matan Bar co-founded Melio in 2018 after product leadership roles at eBay and PayPal. His team began by manually handling bookkeeping and payments for ten businesses. Melio reached a $4 billion financing valuation in 2021 and was acquired by Xero in October 2025. Bar now leads the combined Xero and Melio US businesses.

- **Role:** Xero US CEO; Co-founder and CEO of Melio
- **Organizations:** Xero, Melio, PayPal, eBay, The Gifts Project
- **Nationality:** Israeli
- **Education:** BSc in Computer Science and Management, Tel Aviv University
- **Known for:** Co-founded The Gifts Project, acquired by eBay in September 2011., Led global peer-to-peer payments at PayPal., Co-founded Melio and led it through its 2021 $250 million Series D.

## Career timeline

- **2009** — Co-founded The Gifts Project as chief product officer alongside Ron Gura, Maya Gura and Erez Dickman.
- **2011** — eBay acquired The Gifts Project; Bar became head of product in its Israel Social Center.
- **2015–2017** — Led global peer-to-peer payments and the Tel Aviv consumer product center at PayPal.
- **2018** — Co-founded Melio with Ilan Atias and Ziv Paz.
- **2021** — Melio raised $250 million at a $4 billion valuation.
- **2025** — Xero announced the Melio acquisition in June and completed it October 15.
- **2026** — Xero lists Bar as US CEO responsible for the combined Xero and Melio US businesses.

## Achievements

- Co-founded The Gifts Project, acquired by eBay in September 2011.
- Led global peer-to-peer payments at PayPal.
- Co-founded Melio and led it through its 2021 $250 million Series D.
- Led Melio through its acquisition by Xero, completed October 15, 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Melio launched expense management that allows customers to retain their existing cards.
- **2026-07** — Xero named Jonathan Meltzer Managing Director, US, to work closely with Bar on integrated accounting and payments.
- **2026-05** — Bar discussed connected accounting and payments, AI, open banking and payments modernization in a Financial Technology Association Q&A.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matanbar/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/matanbar

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/matan-bar
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23