Reuben Balik

Yo, have you heard of Reuben Balik? Dude’s the real deal in the fintech world. He just jumped into YC W24 with his startup, The New Money Company, aka Numo. Basically, he’s all about fixing the mess with international contractors and cross-border payments. You know how annoying it is when you’re working globally and not getting paid? Reuben’s building solutions so contractors get paid, even if their clients don’t. That’s some advanced shit in Fintech.

But here’s the kicker-his process is super inspiring. Before Numo, he was the first engineer at Hologram, a telecom startup. The guy was leading integrations with giants like Verizon, Telus, Deutsche Telekom, TIS. Imagine that-building the backbone for global SIM card platforms. And get this, he helped scale Hologram from zero to $20 million ARR and closed a big Series B. That’s no joke.

So, what does that say about him? It’s simple-Reuben is all about solving big problems, especially where tech and global finance collide. He’s worked in telecom, fintech, and now he’s taking all that experience and applying it to the messy world of international payments. His background shows he’s not afraid to jump into complex, high-stakes shit and crush it. The dude’s motivated by making international work smoother, faster, fairer. That’s why he’s building Numo-because he sees the bullshit in cross-border invoicing and wants to fix it for real.

And he’s not just thinking small. Numo started in 2023, focused on markets like Nigeria, but he’s got plans to blow up in Kenya, South Africa, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Basically, he’s chasing big, global impact. It’s about giving contractors in new markets the same payment power as anyone else. That’s a mission-no cap.

Long story short, Reuben’s the kind of founder who’s been in the trenches, built stuff that scales, and now he’s pushing to change how money moves across borders. He’s the guy you want to watch when you think about the future of finance-because he’s not just talking, he’s doing.