Entrepreneur · Fintech Leader · Board Director · Investor
Kathryn Petralia is an entrepreneur, fintech leader, and board director with more than 25 years of experience across credit, payments, and lending. She co-founded Kabbage, a financial technology company that provided automated working capital solutions to small businesses. Kabbage was acquired by American Express in 2020.
In 2017, Forbes named Petralia the 98th Most Powerful Woman in the World. TechCrunch recognized her as one of 42 successful women in technology that same year. She currently serves on the boards of PadSplit, Cloverly, Castle Creek Capital, and the Woodruff Arts Center.
Earlier in her career, Petralia co-founded WorthKnowing.com, which gave consumers access to their credit scores before credit bureaus were required to do so, and which was sold to CompuCredit and TransUnion. She spent seven years in corporate development at Atlanticus (formerly CompuCredit) and served as Vice President of Strategy at Revolution Money (acquired by American Express).
Petralia holds a B.A. in English Literature from Furman University. She is currently Scaling Outcomes at QMD Scientific.
In 2008, Petralia co-founded Kabbage in Atlanta, Georgia, along with Rob Frohwein and Marc Gorlin. The company leveraged real-time data and API access to automate small business lending, transforming a process that traditionally took weeks into one that delivered funding in minutes.
As Co-Founder and President, Petralia helped scale the platform to serve approximately 500,000 small businesses, originating over $16 billion in working capital. Kabbage raised over $2.5 billion in equity and debt financing from investors including SoftBank, Thomvest Ventures, and Reverence Capital Partners, reaching a $1.2 billion valuation in 2017. The company extended its platform to major global banks including Santander and ING.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kabbage became the second-largest Paycheck Protection Program lender, approving approximately 300,000 PPP applications totaling more than $7 billion. American Express acquired Kabbage's team, technology, and intellectual property in October 2020.
Petralia currently serves as:
Previous board and leadership roles include:
Prior to Kabbage, Petralia served as Vice President of Strategy at Revolution Money, an internet-based credit card startup later acquired by American Express. She spent seven years as Director of Corporate Development at Atlanticus (formerly CompuCredit Corporation), directing efforts to enter new markets and develop financial products.
Petralia co-founded WorthKnowing.com (1999–2000), which gave consumers access to their credit scores and pre-approved financial products before credit bureaus were required to provide this access. WorthKnowing was sold to CompuCredit and TransUnion.
Earlier roles include Strategy Consultant at US Web (1996–1999) and Co-Founder of Specialty Shops (1995–1996).
Petralia is a co-inventor on multiple U.S. patents covering automated lending, real-time data-driven underwriting, dynamic payment systems, and financial technology infrastructure. Selected patents:
Full patent portfolio: Justia Patents
For inquiries, connect via LinkedIn.