Glen Allen fintech Koalafi has tapped Eric Kobe to be its new CEO — just four months after he joined the company as president.
Koalafi (pronounced “qualify”), which was previously known as West Creek Financial, announced Kobe’s promotion on Monday. The company said it was a “planned management transition” and that current CEO and co-founder Boomer Muth would remain active with the company. He’s moving into a role as executive vice chair of the company’s board.
"Since joining Koalafi earlier this year, Eric has demonstrated strong leadership alignment with our core values and a powerful vision of how Koalafi can continue to deliver industry-leading financing solutions that help merchants and customers succeed,” Muth said in a statement. “With his proven track record of scaling companies, we are confident he will lead the team to drive long-term growth and impact."
The 10-year-old company offers a platform for pay-over-time and other financing products and services for customers and merchants. The company has raised nearly $200 million, mostly through debt financing, according to Crunchbase.
Kobe was most recently CEO of Groundspeed, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based property and casualty insurance tech company that was acquired last year by Insurance Qualified. Previously, he was at Bay Area fintech Affirm in a variety of roles.
“Koalafi is uniquely positioned to empower underserved consumers with the financial tools they need while transforming the non-prime financing landscape,” Kobe said in a statement.
Muth became CEO of the company in 2023, replacing co-founder Rob Finnegan, who moved to the role of chairman.
