# Paolo Bertolotti

> Paolo Bertolotti is the New York-based co-founder and CEO of ModernFi, a deposit infrastructure company he launched with Columbia classmate Adam DeVita in January 2022. A former AQR quantitative researcher with an MIT doctorate in Social and Engineering Systems and Statistics, he leads a company whose deposit networks passed 1,000 participating financial institutions across all 50 U.S. states in September 2026.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at ModernFi
- **Organizations:** ModernFi, ModernFi CUSO, Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, AQR Capital Management
- **Education:** BS, Operations Research: Financial Engineering, Columbia University, PhD, Social and Engineering Systems and Statistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** Co-founded ModernFi in January 2022 and leads it as CEO., Earned an MIT doctorate with the thesis Inference and Diffusion in Networks., Was a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow in mathematics, as listed on his LinkedIn profile.

## Career timeline

- **2016** — Graduated from Columbia; the sailing newsletter listed his post-graduation plan as working on AQR’s macro team.
- **2016–2017** — Quantitative researcher at AQR Capital Management.
- **2017–2022** — Member of Ali Jadbabaie’s MIT research group.
- **2021-12** — Defended Inference and Diffusion in Networks at MIT on December 10.
- **2022-01** — Launched ModernFi with co-founder Adam DeVita, whom he met at Columbia.
- **2022-02** — Awarded MIT doctorate in Social and Engineering Systems and Statistics.
- **2023-02** — ModernFi announced $4.5 million in seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz.
- **2023** — Taught Introduction to Statistical Reasoning at Columbia during the summer session.
- **2024-01** — ModernFi announced an $18.7 million Series A led by Canapi Ventures.
- **2025-09** — ModernFi announced a $30 million Series B; Intercontinental Exchange joined the investors.
- **2026-09** — ModernFi announced more than 1,000 institutions in its deposit networks, across all 50 states.

## Achievements

- Co-founded ModernFi in January 2022 and leads it as CEO.
- Earned an MIT doctorate with the thesis Inference and Diffusion in Networks.
- Was a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow in mathematics, as listed on his LinkedIn profile.
- Led ModernFi as its deposit networks surpassed 1,000 participating financial institutions in September 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — ModernFi announced its deposit networks had passed 1,000 financial institutions across all 50 states.
- **2026-01** — Published a founder essay describing ModernFi’s partnership with Canapi and its ambition to serve thousands of institutions.
- **2025-11** — Appeared with Gene Ludwig and David Haber on the a16z podcast to discuss deposit networks and community banking.
- **2025-09** — ModernFi announced a $30 million Series B funding round.

## Links

- Website: https://www.modernfi.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paolombertolotti/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/paolo-bertolotti
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22